The Collector
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: Taylor has been cursed with a kleptomaniac robot skeleton living in her head. Shenanigans ensue.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Wednesday, June 1st, 2011_

"This is Armsmaster to Dispatch, I am en-route to location, ETA is five minutes."

"Roger Armsmaster, Protectorate Capes are making their way to the rendezvous, they'll meet you there."

The armored hero closed communications and gunned the throttle on his motorcycle, the engine roaring to life as he shifted from civilian speed to emergency speed. The wind buffeted his exposed lower face, and he couldn't help but think how the day had started remarkably peaceful; those were actually the norm now in Brockton Bay, as odd as it was to think about. Parahuman crime was at an all time low, the local economy was flourishing, and the city was slowly growing bigger than ever.

Being known as the city that killed Leviathan had been an incredible boost to reputation and support, though it honestly was far too late. Many of the issues that support could have solved, had already been dealt with some time ago. Truthfully, Armsmaster had been planning on transferring to another city now that Brockton Bay had stabilized, but of course, nothing could be that simple.

At approximately noon, reports had begun streaming in of a swarm of insects infesting the graveyard of ships. These had rapidly changed into calls about ships simply melting into grey goo, before panicked calls came in from across the city about the rapidly growing swarm that now blanketed the bay, and the constant tremors that shook the ground.

A check with Dragon had confirmed that no, Behemoth had made no movements as of late, which ruled him out. Armsmaster had doubted it, but it was always better to err on the side of caution. Realistically, given the description of the swarm, he knew _exactly _who was behind it. The only question was what trouble she was up to now.

Kicking his siren on, cars parted before his bike, and Armsmaster hit twice the standard highway speeds, which was as fast as he dared go through downtown. He quickly left the newly refurbished skyscrapers in his wake and sped by the Boardwalk, giving him a clear view of the bay.

The Swarm had moved from the grounded ships out over the ocean. A flick of his eyes caused the HUD on his helmet to zoom in and confirm that many of the smaller abandoned ships were being devoured at a rabid pace. He had seen them in action before, when they had stripped Lung of his armored scales and reduced Hookwolf to a blubbering shell of a man. Self replicating small scale machines, they were dubbed scarabs by the PRT due to their beetle like appearance. They weren't particularly durable, but they replicated fast and reduce a car to scrap metal in minutes, before devouring the scraps.

Never had he ever seen them operate on such a scale, or so quickly. Even the super tanker, the ship that blocked nearly all of the bay entrance and had almost single handedly killed the shipping industry in Brockton bay, was visibly beginning to wilt. At the current rate of consumption, he estimated the entire ship graveyard would be cleared in ten minutes, twenty at the maximum.

The question now, was if their creator would stop them at the graveyard, or finally let them loose on the city. Armsmaster didn't trust her or her supposed motives. Some people might say it was a deep seated jealousy in the superiority of her technology and how it had allowed her to do in half a year what he hadn't been able to do in almost a decade. Those people needed to learn to shut their fucking faces.

Armsmaster shook the thought off and finally passed through the Docks to the edge of the ship graveyard. He had to skid to a stop, as a figure was standing at its edge, her long cape flowing in a nonexistent breeze. Stopping his bike, Armsmaster set it to standby and let the automated kickstand activate. With his engine rumbling to a stop, he could hear the almost deafening buzz of thousands if not millions of scarabs at work.

He ignored it and strode towards the figure, the woman, standing before him. "Phaerakh, what are you doing!?" he had to yell to hear himself over the swarm.

The woman turned to face him, emerald eyes flashing. Calling Phaerakh a woman was admittedly a broad assumption. Though she responded to female pronouns, the only sign of femininity was the slight curve to her legs, her wider hips, and a feminine facial structure. Her body was a dull gunmetal grey, shaped skeletal. Only her glowing eyes moved within the deep pits of her eye sockets, focusing on him in an instant.

Her body was decorated in dress that took influences from the Egyptians, the Mayans and the Babylonians. A large cylindrical headdress of green, gold, and grey rose from her skull, a flowing shroud falling from it in an imitation of silvery golden hair. A simple golden Usekh covered her neck and chest, with larger silver shoulder pads that rose from either side of it, trimmed with more gold. A long cape crafted of a thousand tiny metal scales fell from her shoulders to her thighs. A long strip of cloth hung from the front of her waist, with a wider set falling from her back, both halves were connected by golden clasps across her waist. In a word, she could best be described as 'ostentatious'. Or gaudy, Armsmaster preferred that term.

Phaerakh's eyes flashed with what he now recognized as amusement, and she thumped the glaive she held in her right hand against the stone. The emblem emblazoned where blade met half was of a single circle, with a line jutting from either end and stubbier ones from the sides. The top curved up in a U shape, the bottom remained flat with a single line cutting through it halfway down. Whatever the symbol meant, she had never elaborated and refused to do so.

"Armsmaster!" she greeted, loudly and happily. She spread an arm wide, "I'm so glad you could make it! You have arrived in time for the grand reveal!"

It was hard not to scowl behind his visor, the woman was… difficult for him to deal with. That she was an unashamed rogue did not help matters. The majority of her actions might have helped the city, but he knew all too well how close she had skated to disaster. She was as dangerous as she was powerful, which was a very high bar indeed.

"What is the game this time, Phaerakh? What are you trying to pull?" he demanded.

She paused, and thoughtfully stroked her chin, "I was under the impression that clearing the bay could only be seen as a universally good thing. Was I… mistaken, Armsmaster? Or did I stumble across _another _of your bureaucratic landmines?"

He ignored the jab and gestured at the swarm over head, "Everyone knows what your swarms can do Phaerakh. Seeing them let loose could incite a panic."

At that, she mimed putting a hand to where her ear would be and listened intently. "Huh, would you listen to that? The city sounds quiet peaceful, if you ignore my scarabs at work."

Armsmaster ground his teeth together and stabbed a finger at her, "Enough! We know about the tremors, _what _are you pulling!?"

She waggled a finger at him, "Ah ah ah! No spoilers until the rest of the Protectorate arrives. I want this to be as dramatically appropriate as possible, after all."

Before he could start shouting again, she let out a small chuckle, covering the line that represented her with a free hand, "Ah! There's the cavalry, right on schedule!"

A dozen armored vans came to a rolling stop in a half circle around the metal woman, doors flinging open before they had halted and troopers pouring out to surround her. The entire might of the Protectorate joined them: Miss Militia, Dauntless, Assault and Battery, Velocity and Triumph. Even the Wards had been brought to the frontlines, clearly visible on buildings overlooking their standoff: Vista, Kid Win, Aegis, Clockblocker and Gallant all stood at the ready, though they knew that of them only Aegis and Kid Win could be truly effective against Phaerakh.

Miss Militia walked up to Armsmaster, eyes reflecting caution, "Situation?"

"Its Phaerakh." he replied bitterly.

Said woman was scanning the crowd, clearly amused by the sheer size of the response she had warranted. After a moments silence, she tapped her staff against the ground three times. With each tap, a hollow _'boom' _shook the streets and the air. On the third, the swarm halted mid air like a thousand silver stars, and silence reigned.

Content, Phaerakh scratched her chin and let out another chuckle, "I am so very grateful that you were all so _eager _to show up for the grand unveiling! Truly, it is an honor to see the defenders of this city so interested in its history!"

When no one responded, and in fact the troopers visibly grew tenser, Phaerakh shook her head and closed her 'eyes'. "Ah, but I see you have no patience for words. Very well, then allow my actions to speak for me!"

The sigil along her glaive blazed with brilliant light as she raised it over head with two hands and brought it down to the ground in an overhead swing that shook the earth to its foundation. Armsmaster's armor steadied himself, and he caught Miss Militia as she stumbled. The formation scattered, and the swarm began to move again.

In a wave of shimmering silver and flashing emerald, they crashed into the ground behind her. Clouds of dirt fountained into the air as the scarabs quickly and voraciously devoured the land behind her; and as the seconds ticked by, the tremors returned, far more violent and consistent than they had been before.

The ground fractured and split the PRT and Protectorate forces down the middle, forcing them to either side as a chasm grew along the street. Old buildings, long abandoned by their owners collapsed under their own weight and decay. The street buckled and bent, reduced to blackened ruble as… _something _began to rise from the ground.

Necrotic energy erupted into the sky, shadowing Phaerakh with its glow. Her cape whipped around her excitedly, but she remained unmoving despite the miniature cataclysm that had overtaken the graveyard. Tendrils broke off from the main swarm, devouring debris as it was casually flung aside, and then quickly returning to the main body.

With each second, the old graveyard was gone revealing something new and utterly alien.

Smooth geometric shapes rose from the earth, all connected to a structure that quickly revealed its size as large if not larger than any skyscraper in the city. A pyramid of empty blackness, capped with an emerald stone, rose ever higher into the air, crackling with necrotic energy. The swarm poured over its sides, rapidly clearing the dust and sealing any cracks that may have formed in its violent eruption.

New blackstone paths connected to a colossal entryway as large as a three story building and flanked by obelisks that shadowed braziers of burning green fire. Massive stone doors groaned in protest as they were pushed open, revealing an interior bathed in faint green light.

And like that, the rumbling stopped.

At some point in all the commotion, Armsmaster had been knocked off his feet despite his armors best attempts at compensation. He had to push himself from the ground and gaze up at this massive construct, unable to completely suppress the awe he felt. It truly dwarfed any building in the city, perhaps any building along the east coast. The swarm that had once seemed so large and all consuming was dwarfed by its sheer size, flickering between obelisks and pillars that arose from around the building. All of them were made of that same blackstone that crackled with lines of green energy.

The remaining PRT and Protectorate forces slowly got back to their feet, to see Phaerakh looking at them with clear amusement. She stepped to the side and gestured into the building. "If you would follow me please. You have my word that no harm shall come to you or your city whilst you are within my new home."

That was...tempting. On the handful of occasions that she had given her word, Phaerakh had never broken it. Her word was her bond, and if it was given out, she would do her best to fulfill her promise to the letter.

Still…

"Remain out here." Armsmaster ordered the rest of the assembled forces. "Miss Militia and I will see what it is Phaerakh wishes to show us. If we don't call in the all clear within fifteen minutes, assume the worst."

Trying to be subtle was pointless; Armsmaster had learned long ago that no encryption save maybe Dragon's could protect his transmissions from Phaerakh. If she wanted to know what he said to the others, she would know whether he consented or not.

Miss Militia stepped up beside him and the two of them walked up to Phaerakh. The iron maiden bowed her head and her eyes flashed again with amusement. She gestured for them to enter first. Armsmaster exchanged a look with Miss Militia, and then took the first step into the pyramid.

When nothing happened, he took another step, and another. The only sound aside from the hum of the swarm, was the sound of his heavy footsteps and the crackle of energy. He turned back to Miss Militia and nodded. The two of them entered Phaerakh's pyramid together, with her following behind them both.

Surprisingly, the doors did not ominously slam shut behind them, but instead remained open even as they descended within its depths. The tunnel was not simply a straight line. On several occasions it split into multiple paths that Phaerakh guided them down. Though Armsmaster's systems kept track of their route, it didn't take long for it to become very complicated and very long. A quick escape was not in the cards, if it ever had been to begin with.

After several minutes of silent walking, Miss Militia spoke up. "How long have you been working on this? And what is its purpose?"

Phaerakh tapped her chin. "Six months. Most of my swarm has been dedicated to building this structure beneath the city. As for its purpose, well, it's quite simple Miss Militia. What you are standing in is no less than the beginning of what may well be my life's work. A monument to honor my mentor, the one who blessed me with the knowledge I possess today."

As she spoke, Phaerakh's voice grew more excited and her pace sped up until she passed them both. "Though he was taken from me, I have not forgotten what he did for me, and so I have sought to honor him in the only way he would appreciate. And it is with that, Armsmaster and Miss Militia, that I welcome you to the beginning of my carefully curated collection!"

With that, the walls suddenly… vanished. One moment they were there, the next they simply… disappeared. Armsmaster had to wonder if the long walk was necessary, or if Phaerakh had simply been building up to the most appropriate moment for, as she said, 'a dramatic reveal'.

Unfortunately, it worked.

Armsmaster froze as he and Miss Militia suddenly found themselves in a truly massive… well, museum was the only way to describe it. Expertly arranged exhibits were carved into the wall in layers upon layers. Many of them were empty, but he could see a dozen or more already filled with familiar faces.

Kaiser, leader of the Empire Eighty Eight in full armor giving a speech to an assembled band of neo-nazi's, Oni-Lee and one of his clones doing battle against Kaiser's twin bodyguards, and Bakuda standing over a miniature city in flaming ruin, bombs in hand. But despite all of that, what caught Armsmasters attention, and truly terrified him, was the center piece of this 'museum'. Three plinths dominated the center of the room, two of them empty.

But, the one closest to them, forever frozen in time, was the form of the endbringer Leviathan. And though its body could not move, all four of its eyes were clearly and plainly focused on them, alive and furious.

**A/N: I finally decided to upload this story here, I've been lazy about that. Rest of the chapters are on , but I'll be posting the rest of the chapters daily here until I've caught up there. Hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave a review, and I'll see you guys tomorrow!  
**


	2. Traveling 1-1

**Traveling 1.1**

_'We must not let the relics of antiquity be broken and crushed by the savagery of unenlightened creatures, for only by understanding these treasures may we conquer the future. Only we, who have broken free from the shackles of mortality and bound the infinite majesty of the cosmos to our will, can be trusted with this task. That is why we are here, on this wretched pit of a planet. Eliminate these mortals as you see fit, but do try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum.'_

-Trazyn the Infinite

* * *

_Date: Unknown. Location: Unknown_

_A sea of metal, a world of unblinking emerald eyes. All stood before her, bowed in supplication to her authority. Her hands of living metal tightened, one gouging into a throne of empty blackstone, the other around her scepter. Ancient, powerful, it was her legacy made manifest, her wrath and her mercy. Those who were her enemies would tremble before it, those her allies would bow in respect before it._

_Before her._

_"Mistress." said a voice to her right._

_Her eyes flicked towards its source, another construct of steel and iron, bowed in service just as her armies were. She waved a dismissive hand, bidding that the servant speak._

_"Your armies stand ready. At your word, they shall march upon the world. By your word, they shall scourge this land of all life, burn these wretched and hateful creatures till nought but atoms remain. Oceans will boil, the earth shall scream, and all will know your wrath."_

_She remained silent, not even deigning to look at the servant. He spoke again._

_"Perhaps then you do not desire extermination? Conquest then; bring order to the orderless, unite the warring peoples of this planet. Rule with ironclad tyranny, for your word is law. Any who would defy your authority will be dealt with like the animals they are. Would this please you, mistress?"_

_A sigh, a breath she did not need. In one fluid motion, she arose from her throne and stamped her scepter against the smooth floor. "Do not presume to know what I want or desire, creature. My actions and will are mine alone, and you shame yourself with these petty attempts at manipulation."_

_She gave no time for it to mutter out apologies and further pledges of fealty. A sweep of her arm, and as one the sea of metal arose. Uncountable, undefinable, thousands upon thousands of arms clapped to iron chests in gestures of fealty. Were she still capable, she would smile._

_"Today! On this day, we will not purge this world. We will not conquer this world. No, today we march in preservation of all that walks upon this world. This world is _

mine_, and by my will I shall see it flourish as it is! Go my armies, march forward and let neither friend nor foe stop you!"_

_And so it was, that iron and steel marched forward, as time marches forward. The world would know their power and the futility of conflict against them. After all, they were no enemy to fight; no, you could not fight the inevitable._

* * *

_Monday, January 10th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

My eyes snapped open, and I bolted straight up from the concrete and nearly slammed my head into the face of the concerned man standing over me. He yelled and stumbled back, a look of surprise and concern on his face.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

I was breathing hard, my heart hammering against my ribcage, and my entire skull felt like it was on fire. Aside from that though, I felt fine. I slumped forward and ran my hands over my face. "Oh my god, what happened?" I mumbled.

"No idea," the man said. "I saw you rushing down the sidewalk and then you collapsed when a car went by. I think it might've kicked up a rock or something and smacked you in the head? No idea."

The man sounded nice, and I looked up at him through my hands. Plain, middle aged man, a little on the dumpy side with tired eyes. He didn't look like one of the local gangers, but that wasn't a guarantee for anything in this town, not anymore.

"How long was I out?" I asked cautiously.

The man shrugged, "Only a minute or two, you were breathing the whole time. Do you need me to call an ambulance?"

I shook my head and slowly got to my feet while gathering up my school supplies. He was nice enough to help me gather them up and handed them to me. I smiled my thanks and swung my backpack over my shoulder. Now that I was settled, I could remember what I had been doing before… whatever the hell that weird dream was. I had slept past my alarm and missed my bus, forcing me to take another route to school that dropped me off a block from Winslow. I had been running for it, when a car passed me and… that weird dream had started.

That was strange, I had no memory of actual passing out. Of course, I'd never been knocked out before, so I didn't exactly have a lot of experience with it, but I figured there'd be a fuzzy memory left over or something. Chalk it up to another lie from Hollywood, go figure.

"Are you sure you're okay, miss?"

I shook my head, "TI'm fine I think. Do you have the time?" I asked.

The man glanced at his phone, "Sure, it's… about 7:27."

I cursed, "I'm going to be late! Thanks for the help mister, but I need to go!"

He didn't even have time to call after me, I was already running down the street. The pounding of my feet on the concrete did no favors for the dull ache in my skull, and I had to slow down less than a minute later. I made a mental note to visit the nurse at school when I got there; maybe I could get an excused absence for a medical emergency. Wouldn't that be something?

Winslow High came into view as I debated possible excuses I could add to my medical absence, and its appearance did nothing to ease my headache. It was an ugly three story building that somehow managed to look squat in spite of this. Graffiti covered the edges of its concrete edifice, the lawn was an ugly shade of brown, and some of the windows were so filthy you couldn't even see out of them. Most of the students that were bothering to show up were already inside, leaving only me and a few stragglers to march up the stairs.

_'Well, I can't say I've ever seen a disappointment given physical form, but this would certainly come close.' _A voice said from behind me.

I stopped and whirled around, preparing for the worst. But aside from a student or two that gave me weird looks, there was no one behind me. Okay, I was admittedly a bit paranoid, but after nearly two years of constant bullying, anyone would have grown a bit jumpy.

_'At least you have some common sense.' _the voice, again, said from behind me.

I whirled toward the front of the school, and rubbed at my head when I saw the steps now empty. '_Get it together Taylor,'_ I thought to myself,_ 'you're not going crazy. Just drop off your assignments in your locker, and then head to the nurse, get that sick leave and get the hell out of here.'_

_'Yes, _

Taylor_, the sooner the better, please.' _said the Voice.

I pretended not to hear it and rushed inside.

The halls were predictably crowded with students rushing to and fro as they prepared for the first classes of the day. The din of conversation was practically deafening. I thought I had learned to deal with the noise a while ago, but today it set my teeth on edge and smacked me over the head like I owed it money.

It took an effort not to cover my ears as I slowly pushed my way through the crowds. Just get to the locker, and then go to the nurse. This was my mantra, what kept me going even while my head attempted to pull itself apart. At least I had lost the Voice.

_'Oh wonderful, truly this is a perfect expenditure of our _limited _time.' _it piped up.

No direction to source it from that time, too many students. And to be completely honest, I was fairly certain that the voice didn't belong to anyone. I wondered, could a concussion give someone hallucinations?

_'Don't flatter yourself, child. You are nowhere near creative enough for something like that_._'_ the Voice said dryly.

"Fuck. Off." I hissed between clenched teeth. I could see my locker now, many students giving it a wide berth.

I started to wonder why, when the first bell rang. Now I knew how a nail felt, because each ring was like a hammer to my skull. I clutched my head and stopped in place while students streamed around me and towards their next classes. My only relief was that the Voice had gone silent for the moment.

But, I needed real silence, just for a minute. Getting to class on time didn't matter, I could afford to take my time getting to the nurses office. The only motivation I had for moving faster, was the fear that _they _might still be wandering the halls. The Trio, the bitches, the pains in my ass since the ninth grade. Traitors, bullies, monsters, whatever you wanted to call them, I did not need nor want to put up with them this morning.

I scanned the hallas I suddenly banked right and headed for the nearest bathroom. There was no sign of them as I reached and slammed open the girls bathroom door. I walked up to and leaned against the kitchen sink, soaking in the sweet silence. My head still throbbed uncomfortably, but it was a dull and constant pain, which was easier to deal with than the sharp spikes I'd been experiencing in the hall.

My reflection stared back at me in the mirror. I didn't care to lament my plain appearance, pausing only for a moment to readjust my glasses and push a few strands of dark curly hair out of my face. I took a deep breath, stood up, and turned to leave.

I walked straight into the face of a gleaming metal skull, staring at me with intense emerald eyes that _burned _with some sort of unnatural energy. I screamed and stumbled back, landing on my butt and almost hitting the sink with the back of my head. Thankfully, I only had to add butt pain to my head trauma, but that was an unimportant detail.

"Oh my, that looked like it hurt." the Voice said, only this time I knew where it came from.

I jerked my head up at the metal skull, and saw what it was attached to. Fear pulsed in my veins and I started scrambling backwards away from this… thing that had appeared behind me.

It was tall, seven feet maybe eight. Either way, it had to lean significantly to get in my face like it had. Its skull wasn't a perfect anatomical recreation of an actual skull, taking the shape of a mask more than anything else. Its body was made of gleaming metal that almost seemed to pulse in the pail light. A long cloak of interlocking metal plates fell from its shoulders, and a hood shaped structure protected its skull. It held an ornate staff in its hand but clearly had no need of it aside from decorative purposes.

This… thing, this giant metal skeleton man, took one look at me cowering under the sink, and pinched the space between its eyes and sighed. "Child, please stop embarrassing the both of us and come out from under there. We have much to talk about and little time to talk about it."

I stared at the robotic skeleton; the gears in my head were slowly turning, but the emphasis was on slow. A thought finally occurred to me. The Voice, the robot, it had a british accent. I don't know why this suddenly occurred to me, but when it did, I think I felt something snap in my brain.

:A crazed noise, not quite a laugh and not quite a sob, broke free of my lips. "British robot." I cracked.

"Haha! Giant… british… robot. In my head." I grabbed at my head, and felt my eye twitch.

Then whatever had snapped in my head promptly snapped back into place. I promptly stood, shouldered my backpack and said, "Nope. No no no, nah ah, no."

If I didn't know any better, the robots glowing eyes almost seemed to narrow. If this was a sign of amusement, insult, or annoyance, I didn't know or care. I was so absolutely done with this travesty I called a life.

"Nope nope nope. No. No!"

The door to the bathroom opened. The trio walked in, they said something at me. I ignored them and made for the door.

"No no no, nope!" I didn't even pause, I pushed right past them. One of them grabbed at my backpack, and I let it go. I went straight out the door, back into the now empty hall, and headed for the exit. The entire time, I simply kept muttering a string of negatives; I felt like I was going to start laughing and start crying at the same time.

I left Winslow without a second thought and headed to the nearest bus stop home. The handful of people there kept their distance from me. I in turn, kept my distance from them even as I continued to mutter, "No, absolutely not, no way, nope. No no no no no."

The bus came, I stepped aboard. No one sat near me either.

"Nope, nope, nope!"

Half an hour later, I was walking up to my house again, still muttering to myself. My home was once a nice two story suburban building. Strong stable walls painted a cheery light blur, decent front porch and lawn, even an old tree growing out front. Age and the decay of the city had not been kind to its structure, but it was still home. I followed the path to the front porch, almost tripped over the broken step, and walked inside.

The skelebot was standing in the living room, glaring at me.

"Nope!" I declared, and went straight up the stairs, and took a hard right into my room, and promptly collapsed face first onto my bed. I embraced sleep minutes later, still muttering my denial of what was clear insanity.

I woke back up hours later staring at my nightstand clock. It was almost noon, I'd been asleep four a good four hours. Good news, the pain in my skull had melted away, and I could think a bit more clearly. Bad news, Skeletor was still standing in my room, glaring daggers at me.

"You are quite fortunate that I am unable to interact with you physically, or I would have dragged you off your bed by that mess of a mane you call hair hours ago."

Yawn. I rolled onto my back and stretched, "Buddy, I've been the center of a very personal terror campaign for two years. If you're trying to get under my skin, you'll need better material than that.

The skeleton loomed over me. I ignored it the best I could, until it spoke again. "You don't quite comprehend the situation you're in, child. I am not some figment of your imagination, I am very much a real and corporeal being."

I reached out and waved a hand through him. "Poor choice of words there buddy. And anyway, you could say whatever you want, but a hallucination is a hallucination. If I've snapped, then you'll just say whatever crazy crap runs through my head until you start looping."

"The insane do not typically recognize their insanity, I would know," said the skeleton.

"Clearly I'm a special case." I replied casually.

The skeleton bent at the waist, casting that eerie green glow over my body. "Or, you're aware on some level that I am _not _a hallucination. You know I am very real, and represent something that you know nothing of. This entire attitude of yours is an act, a layer of defense to protect yourself from admitting that fact."

I opened my mouth, but it interrupted me. "Don't deny it. Our minds are linked now, unfortunately. My personality, what's left of it, is occupying only a very small portion of your cerebral cortex at the moment. From there I can read your every thought, emotion, and action you take. I am privy to your deepest darkest fears, and your greatest hopes; I must say, I am quite unimpressed."

It wanted to play that way? Fine.

I pushed myself up and folded my arms, glaring up at the skeletal droid. "Fine then, prove it. Prove to me that you're not some result of my fucked up head finally snapping under the stress. Then, maybe, we can have a civil conversation."

At that, I could very clearly see amusement in the machines eyes. It even scratched at its chin in such a way that its fingers made a smile. "Oh, I am quite far ahead of you in that game my dear. If you would look to your left please?"

I humored it and did so. Then I did a double take and stared at the object floating behind my window. It was about a foot long from end to end, made of that same silver metal my mental visitor was. It had six long talon like legs, three jutting from either side of its oval shaped body. A short little head with a pair of pincers emerged from one end, with a lone emerald 'eye' in the center of it.

This thing looked for all the world like a giant flying beetle, and it began tapping at my window when I saw it. I got up and opened the window before it started leaving marks. The little machine floated inside and set itself on my bed with its legs tucked under its belly and looked up at me with its big eye.

My legs felt weak and I collapsed back onto my bed. The beetle continued staring at me unblinking. Its eye followed my hand as I reached out and touched it. The metal was surprisingly warm to the touch, hard and unyielding, and yet I could feel almost a… softness to its frame, as though if I pushed hard enough the metal would mold to my hand like clay.

"That would be a result of your connection to me." said my visitor, making me jump. "Necrodermis doesn't respond to the whims of lesser races, but our connection makes it more… malleable under your touch."

I looked at the giant metal man, with his stupidly huge staff, overly elaborate decoration and burning green eyes. Then I looked back to the beetle that watched me but made no movement. A sense of very real dread slowly filled me, and I could feel the blood draining from my face.

The skeleton was radiating smugness when I turned back to him, shaken. "U-um… so, Mr. Skeleton. What brings you to Brockton Bay?"

It raised a finger, "Firstly, my name is not 'Mr. Skeleton', 'Skeletor', or 'Mr. Roboto'. If you wish for me to treat you with more respect, I expect the same courtesy, Taylor Hebert."

I swallowed and nodded, "Okay. What do I call you then?"

Its eyes glimmered and it said, "I am Trazyn the Infinite. 737th son of the Solemence Dynasty, Grand Archeovist and Overlord of its many archives, and as for why I am hear, Taylor Hebert; well, _that _is quite an interesting story.

* * *

**A/N: I had originally started this chapter with a bit showing how Trazyn showed up on Earth Bet, but after discussing it with my editor, we both decided that dedicating his own chapter to it would be a much better way to handle it. So next chapter is from Trazyn's perspective as we find out exactly why he's on Earth Bet and what kind of predicament he's dragged Taylor into. Hope I didn't make Taylor too out of character, and for those unsure, yes she did avoid the locker incident thanks to Trazyn's interference.**

**See y'all tomorrow, hope you enjoyed, feel free to leave reviews with your thoughts and criticisms.**


	3. Traveling 1-2

**Traveling 1.2**

_Thanatos, Necron Crownworld, 999.M41_

Allow me first to provide context, if I may. Without it, my tale my prove terrible confusing for your inexperienced minds to comprehend.

_Wait, minds? What?_

_Shhh, let me speak._

As I was saying, context is very important for why and how I arrived here in my current situation. Despite the superficial appearance of my frame to your human skeletal structure, I am not nor have I ever been human. I am necron, formerly necrontyr. Over sixty million years ago, my people shed our biological forms in the furnace of bio-transference and assumed new metal forms such as the one you see before you today. The how and why are ultimately irrelevant to my story; all that is important is that once I was organic as you are, and now I exist as immortal living metal.

While many of my brothers and sisters of the necron have taken up arms in quests for power, territory, or a return to glory, my purpose has always been far greater and more important. For you see, I am but a humble archivist; I collect and preserve relics from across the known galaxy so that their history may be saved for future generations to learn from. The unfortunate reality of immortality, however, is that time still moves forward, and thus my collection is ever growing.

So it is that I have spent much of my immortal existence traveling the stars and negotiating for the acquirement and storage of important artifacts. It is rewarding work, important work as well. But the eons can grow long and stifling, and even I found myself one day experiencing an emotion I have not felt for quite some time.

Boredom.

For you see, Taylor Hebert, I had fallen into a bit of a rut. In my galaxy, war is eternal and quite the grim affair. A hundred factions vie for control over the fate of the galaxy, including my own people. Thus this has lead to a rather predictable state of affairs. Conflict explodes in one arm of the galaxy, word reaches me upon my Tomb World, and I mobilize to acquire any relics of important value before they are inevitably destroyed in said conflict. Repeat ad nauseum for ten thousand years, and _anyone _would beg for a change of pace.

Most recently, my attempt at negotiating for an ancient relic from a group of warriors known as 'the Salamanders',(yes quite creative wouldn't you agree?) had ended in abject failure. I rested and recuperated my thoughts upon the bridge of one of my many smaller starships as I began the long return back to Solemence. Recovering this artifact, which you may call the Speak of Vulkan, had been a very long process, several centuries in the making. Negotiations had broken down at the last minute, and the warriors had sent me away with a fresh hole in my chassis for my trouble.

Rest assured, my body is more than durable enough to recover from such a trifling injury. But my mind, my mind lay battered and tired. For eons I have followed this repetitive pattern, hunting for artifacts to expand my collection. I could never truly abandon such an important quest of course, but that did not mean that I wished to recover relics that were only suited for war, or all came from the same source.

Thus, I came to a revelation of sorts. I was in desperate need of a holiday, a change of scenery from the humdrum everyday life of war and death that my galaxy has devolved into. It was such an obvious solution in hindsight, that had eluded me for so long! Already, I felt reinvigorated simply for coming to this conclusion, and immediately ordered my fleet to alter its course to the necron Crownworld of Thanatos, home of the Oruscar Dynasty.

Understand dear child, that those of the Oruscar Dynasty are amongst the few of my brothers and sisters that I would truly count as equals. Instead of seeking war and glory, they had sought to leave their mark on history through the advancement and betterment of their people. Their world is one of miraculous technology, even by our standards. But there was only one treasure that interested me, the crown jewel of all the Oruscar Dynasty has achieved.

The Celestial Orrery.

The Orrery is quite simply, the greatest achievement any race could possibly lay claim to. It is a perfectly accurate rendition of the galaxy. Let me explain, it is not simply a meticulously accurate map or model. No, the Orrery's accuracy and attention to detail is to a level that defies any and all mortal imagination. Any changes brought upon the Orrery will be reflected upon the galaxy itself, and the reverse is true as well.

_That sounds made up._

_Quiet, it's not._

Obviously, such power if abuse could very easily destroy the galaxy, and so the Oruscar have dedicated the entire might of their dynasty to its defense. Few have ever seen the Orrery in person; only the mightiest of Overlords could ever hope to be granted an audience with it and only under the closest of supervision. So of course, they would have no complaint about allowing myself a chance to view it.

In fact, they were delighted by my visit to their many orbital docks. Why, the Phaeron himself met me as I exited my ship with his entire personal guard in tow! I must say, I have received many warm welcomes, but this was certainly unexpected, even for one of my reputation.

I of course bowed respectfully, as such an important Phaeron deserved my respect. He was though, a very terse fellow, not prone to pleasantries, which was a pity, but given the duty thrust upon him by his dynasty, it was not unexpected.  
"Trazyn the Infinite." he said. "You've brought yourself to Thanatos without invitation, without warning. Why?"

If there is one flaw to the state of my current being, it is the lack of proper facial features. A reassuring smile can do wonders for assuaging the fears of others you see. I had to make an effort instead to spread my arms and remain bowed as I spoke. "Why, my noble Hakmephet, I have come with a simple request; a favor, if you will."

I must say, Hakmephet had turned his stoic mannerisms into an artform, I could barely read him. It was clear though that I had peaked his curiosity. "The Oruscar do not deliver 'favors' to anyone, Trazyn. Especially not thieves and scoundrels such as yourself."

I held a hand to my chest, conveying the hurt I felt at such an insult. "My dear Phaeron, you wound me. I am many things, but scoundrel? I am nothing but polite and courteous to all that I do business with."

Hakmephet stabbed a finger at me, quite rudely I might add, and retorted with, "Wherever you go, trouble follows. I will not allow you to curse Thanatos with your presence; begone!"

_Oh yeah, you seem to have a lovely reputation._

_Must you interrupt me constantly with your ceaseless commentary?_

_Yes._

"Hakmephet, at the very least hear my request? One as mighty and wise as yourself could surely spare but a moment to hear the words of a humble Overlord? All I wish is to seek your assistance in finding world untouched by the current conflict. I've grown bored with the galaxy as is you see and wish to, temporarily, retire from galactic politics."

The Phaeron stiffened, and I could hear power thrumming around him. Clearly he had not considered that someone as studious as I to require a break from my work. Such is the downside of cultivating such a legendary reputation I suppose.

After a moment of silence, he spoke again, quieter this time. "You… wish to leave the galaxy?"

I shook my head, "No no no. I wish to remove myself from galactic politics; for a decade or two. If I enjoy my holiday, I may even consider a century. It is a bit of a spur of the moment decision I admit."

Amusingly, this truly seemed to stun the Phaeron. He rested a hand on his head and looked at me, visibly dazed. The gears within his mechanical brain were clearly working overtime at my words.

Finally, he resumed his original posture, and clapped his hands together with a metallic clang. One of his high crypteks, a master of the scientific arts you see, materialized beside his lord in a flash of emerald light, bowed in proper supplication.

"Yes, Phaeron Hakmephet?"

"Bring Overlord Trazyn to the Celestial Orrery. Assist him in finding whatever it is he is in search of, so long as it does not disturb the natural order of the galaxy. And ensure he is under constant guard at all times. These are my orders to you Cryptek, am I understood?"

"Completely, my master."

The cryptek turned to me and bowed, "Lord Trazyn. This way, if you would."

I will spare you the details, as the distance traveled from docking bay to Orrery is quite dull. Needless to say, with the weight of Phaeron Hakmephet words hanging over them, the Cryptek and their guards spirited me to the Orrery at a refreshing pace. I found myself within its incredible lattice within hours of my initial arrival at Thanatos.

There was just one problem. For as vast as the galaxy is, in its billions upon billions of star systems… it was impossible to find a singular world within it that was both worthy of note and not embroiled in war. Oh sure there were planets free from the chain of battle, but such worlds were dull and unimportant to begin with! I briefly toyed with the notion of retiring to one of the Imperium's agricultural worlds and setting myself up as an enigmatic ghost to haunt the primitives legends for generations to come, but found that such a gambit would only be mildly amusing and hardly worth spending an entire vacation on.

It was frustrating, in the worst possible way. We spent days, under careful guard, cataloguing a thousand known worlds with none living up to my standards. By the seventh day, my patience had worn thin.

"You have done well in serving your master, Cryptek." I know not what it's name was, as such details were only important to those within the Oruscar Dynasty. It did not seem to mind, but did seem disturbed by my statement.

"Lord Trazyn, I am certain we can find what you are seeking. Understand, the breadth of the galaxy is truly astounding and there are many, _many _worlds to sift through. The process will simply take time to…"  
I ignored the Cryptek as it spoke, thinking over what else I knew of Oruscar's treasures. There was the Glyph of Dominance of course, a powerful seal of power and one of the first examples of Oruscar's technological might. An important relic that certainly needed preservation. But not what I was looking for.

The Quantum Loom, the Gravity Sling, none of these relics would fulfill the purpose that I desired. But then, insight struck! There was one relic, completed at the same time as the Orrery and thus forgotten by many as its purpose paled in comparison to the sheer power of the Orrery.

The Window of Worlds, an open door into a thousand parallel realities. If I could not find that which I was searching for within my own galaxy, then perhaps another reality would bear more fruit. The Cryptek was aghast of course when I initially suggested such an idea, but when I reminded him of his lord's orders, his tune changed quite quickly.

_This is all starting to sound rather convenient_

_To your young and uneducated mind, perhaps. To one who has lived for millions of years, you learn that coincidence is quite rare._

Thus, I was brought to the Window of Worlds and… admittedly disappointed. Window was an apt description, as the portal would be quite impossible for any necron of reasonable stature to fit through. It was easy to see how the Celestial Orrery could easily overshadow such an… unassuming device. Yet it was here that I may have finally found the cure to my boredom.

I let the Cryptek operate the Window, I was under no illusions of my expertise in the field of parallel manipulation, and merely observed the myriad of catalogued realities. It was through this window, that I eventually discovered your world, Taylor Hebert.  
A world on the brink of collapse, but untouched by the true conflicts that wrack my own. A world were men and women play at god, with no heed of their consequences or understanding of the past. A world doomed to destruction one way or another. The perfect world for my holiday.

* * *

I stared at the ske- at Trazyn long and hard, debating if I had gone nuts again. A small part of me felt insulted by the way he described my home. The rest of me was trying to wrap my mind around everything he had just told me.

"So, let me get this straight." I said. "You're a 60 million year old, extra dimensional alien robot, you run around stealing things and throwing them into museums, and your idea of a vacation is heading to a world you describe as 'doomed to destruction'. Is that about right?"

Trazyn chuckled, "That is indeed what I said, yes. You are, at the very least, observant."

"I try." I folded my arms and sat cross legged on my bed. "Okay, that explains why you're here. But why are you in my head?"

Trazyn lifted a finger, paused, and then, I swear to god, somehow managed to look embarrassed. "Ah, well. As I mentioned, the Window of Worlds is not a large construct. I could not have properly fit through into your realm. So I improvised. Which is where you come in my dear. I do apologize for this next part."

"What part-" I started, and then shuddered. A tingling sensation started at the back of my head where my headache had started, and ran down my spine and through my limbs, leaving goosebumps in its wake. I shook myself and blinked stars out of my eyes.

"What… what just happened?"

Trazyn stared at me, and I felt another tingle. I shuddered and glared at him, "Stop thaaat~! It tickles!"

"Oh dear, that's not right at all…" Trazyn rubbed his chin while staring at me.

I glared at him in return, "What's not right? What are you trying to do?"

"Well, I suppose now it's not-"

"Don't pull that with me!" I interrupted before he tried to weasel his way out of an explanation. "What did you try to do to me?"

Trazyn folded his free arm under his cloak and glared at me. "Your memory would suggest that you wouldn't be this stubborn. You certainly never stood up to that awful 'trio' you hate so much."

"They can physically hurt me. You're a hallucinated metal skeleton that likes the sound of his own voice way too much."

"Fair enough." Trazyn growled. He sighed and shook his head. "Fine. If you must know, when I realized that I could not physically enter this world through traditional means, I copied my personality and implanted it into a swarm of mind shackle scarabs. This swarm was supposed to find a suitable host, allow my consciousness to temporarily override it, and allow me to build a proper body here. In a few decades, the original me would return, I would fuse with my originator, and I would be able to relive and reminisce over this holiday at my leisure, should I ever become bored. But, something has clearly gone wrong, because my attempts to seize control are failing."

On one level, pure rage felt like a pretty appropriate response. On another, horror and terror at the thing living in my head also felt pretty good. I think those two trying to come together cancelled each other out. All I could muster was a glare at Trazyn, and a sneer.

"Well I'm sorry to tell you, but my body isn't something you can just take, asshole. If anything, this serves you right."

Trazyn rolled his electronic eyes, "Oh please, you would have been perfectly fine. A little worn out and tired when I was done, but I wouldn't have _intentionally _killed you."

"Uh huh. Right. Well now you're stuck in my head with no control. How's it feel having your sick little plan blow up in your face?"

"Annoying." he said.

Then his head perked up, which immediately made me worry. "And, intrigued."

I leaned back on my bed, slowly putting distance between myself and him. "Intrigued… how?"

Trazyn clapped his hands together and chuckled, "My dear, I believe we can come to a proper arrangement to deal with this situation. How does the idea of playing hero sound?"

I paused, and blinked, "Pardon?"

Trazyn gestured at the scarab lying next to me, that I had completely forgotten during his little story. "While I am no Cryptek, I do keep an encyclopedic knowledge of necron technology on hand in case I ever find myself in a situation separated from my forces. With a single scarab, I could feasibly build whatever I needed, with enough time. I was able to call the scarab here, but I can't control it, much like how I can't control you."

He laughed, "But, if you accept this deal, Taylor Hebert, I can teach you. Teach you how to use our technology for whatever means your heart desires. On one condition. Help me expand my collection. Your world is ripe with living history; it would be a pity to see it lost to the sands of time forever."

My mind was racing. There was no way he was serious. He went from trying to take over my mind to offering to work with me way too fast, this felt like a trap. On the other hand, Trazyn's entire goal seemed pretty simple and basic. Fulfilling my end of the bargain might not be that difficult. I mean, come on, he came from a race that could apparently build models that could manipulate reality itself; who knew what other toys he had!

Okay, calm down Taylor, don't let yourself get distracted by the shiny things. It seemed like a good deal, but I needed more details before signing off on it.

"That depends. What would I be collecting?" I asked.

Trazyn shrugged, "Anything honestly. Technological wonders, landmarks, religious artifacts, examples of your 'heroes and villains'. I'm not particularly picky to be completely honest."

I nodded slowly, "Okay. Then I have a few ground rules. I'll accept your deal, on these conditions: No killing, no going after heroes, and no kidnapping political figures. I don't want to piss off a dozen nations just because you decided you 'had to have' their leadership for your museum."

God this situation felt surreal. Wasn't I supposed to be in high school taking an algebra quiz right now?

Trazyn rubbed his chin again, and chuckled, "Oh, very well. Given the circumstances, I can't really afford to argue, can I?"

"No, no you can't."

"Haha! Then it's a deal!" he offered me his hand. Which I noticed had very long and pointed fingers, almost like claws.

I reached out and passed my hand through his a few times and looked at him, brow raised. Trazyn shrugged. "Good enough for our purpose. Personally speaking, I think we may have borne witness to a very lucrative partnership, child."

A pit of dread formed in my stomach. What had I just signed myself up for?


	4. Traveling 1-3

**Traveling 1.3**

_Monday, January 10th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

There were benefits to having Trazyn living in my head, I won't deny it. I mean, don't get me wrong, he was a rude, presumptuous, selfish, sarcastic asshole that was in love with the sound of his own voice. But, he was apart of a packaged deal; so yes, I had to put up with him, and in return I gained access to all the shiny toys he had at his disposal.

For the moment, this was limited entirely to the lone scarab that he'd summoned to my house. I named him Khepri, and he was kind of adorable even if he (or it as Trazyn insisted, though I didn't hear any complaints about the nom de plume) was just a basic machine. Apparently though, _he_ was some sort of deconstructor/constructor drone that could theoretically recreate anything that the Necrons had made, so long as he had access to sufficient energy.

I had been skeptical at first when Trazyn told me that they had apparently mastered the art of converting energy into matter and vice versa, until he had given me an example, and guided me on how to direct Khepri. This was where our alliance became necessary; Khepri was a simple machine and should, supposedly, be easy to control. But he required the proper interface to function, which I obviously lacked.

However, Trazyn could act as a translator. What I mean, is that he could use the… implants that he'd augmented me with, to transmit my thoughts to Khepri, until we built a proper interface, which was the first thing I 'ordered' him to do. The only reason Trazyn couldn't do this himself, was that he lacked the 'processing power' to send more complex commands. All of my implants were dedicated to storing his personality and archives. My wetware was going to have to provide the extra boost to send anything more complicated than a 'come hither' command. Well okay, it was more complicated than that, but that was the basic gist of what he told me.

For my first command, I opened up the side of my PC and ordered Khepri to get work upgrading it. The computer was practically ancient by modern standards, and I rarely used it save for browsing PHO forums and typing up the occasional paper. Trazyn assured me that he Khepri could upgrade the systems quickly, and that I'd be able to understand whatever software it was that Necrons used.

Khepri perked up when I gave the order, made an affirmative chirp, and fluttered over to the exposed innards of the PC, his little legs wriggling with movement. A bright beam of green light shot from the underside of his little head, and wherever it touched, the internal components simply vanished. A faint green glow emanated from the edges of where the spotlight touched, but it moved surprisingly fast.

It took less than a minute for the scarab to strip the entire case of components, leaving only a bare metal box behind. Then it settled itself down inside with its legs spread, and emitted a darker beam. I jumped in surprise when tiny bolts of lightning crackled from the emitter, and something new took shape.

Unlike the deconstruction process, the construction time was far longer. What appeared to be some sort of smooth black stone was taking shape beneath Khepri's brilliant light, but it was at a pace significantly longer than the initial destruction had taken.  
I leaned back on my bed and glanced up at Trazyn. "How long should this take?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully."Converting matter to energy is quite basic, if one knows the proper way of doing it. But converting energy to matter is a bit more of a delicate process. If either fails, it could create quite the spectacular explosion. So, best not to rush it."

I gulped, and found Khepri a little less cute now. The little robot paused, chirped, and then resumed building. Okay, only a _little _less cute. I folded my arms and legs and thought for a moment. Given what Trazyn had told me, a Necron computer of equivalent size to my old one was probably going to be faster and more powerful than literally anything on the planet. Which raised the question of what exactly I was going to _do _with it.

Again, I looked up at Trazyn and asked, "So, your tech. It _is _compatible with human technology right?"

Trazyn sighed and rolled his eyes, "As compatible as one can be with a rock that's been tricked into thinking, but yes."

"Okay, good," I said, ignoring his sarcasm. "So, could we use the computer Khepri is building to… I dunno, make some sort of Necron virus that could mess with a database?"

He paused, and his eyes grew distant, a sign that he was in thought. Despite the lack of a real face, he could be surprisingly expressive with his eyes and posture. When he spoke again, his voice had taken on an almost mischievous tone, "Yes, yes we could. Why do you ask, child?"

I rolled my eyes, "First, it's Taylor. If we're going to be partners, we should at least show _some _respect toward one another."

Trazyn stared at me blankly. I returned the stare, and my room was silent save for the hum of Khepri and the clicking of his metal legs against the computer case. Finally, Trazny chuckled and said, "Fair enough, Taylor. I suppose common courtesy is only fair. Now I repeat myself, why do you ask?"

I gestured around me, "Well, the way I see it, if we're going to actually going to make any real progress, I can't be wasting my time at that hellhole Winslow. But I can't exactly just drop out either without my dad knowing and I don't think I'm quite ready to tell him about the alien robot living in my head."

"I've interrupted enough family engagements in my time to know I have no desire to interrupt another," he agreed.

"So, we obviously need a way to get me out of Winslow without anyone knowing I left. I don't have much of a presence there, so all I need to do is make sure my grades and absences are consistent for the rest of the year. Could we make a virus that does something like that?"

Trazyn laughed, "With the pathetic excuse for computer science your species uses? Absolutely. It may take some time to fabricate the virus, as again, you lack the implants for proper-"

"We've been over this, I'm not adding anymore implants to myself." I interrupted.

He waved a hand, "Yes, yes, I know. My point being, it could take a few hours, even with my guidance, for you to code a virus that could do as you've suggested. It will be a very boring process."

"Great!" I clapped my hands together, "Then when Khepri is finished, we can get started!"

It took Khepri about thirty minutes to 'build' my new PC. The result was several large ebony blocks arranged in neat rows inside my computer case, each one perfectly lined with glowing green lines of energy. A tiny hollow cylinder was based at the bottom of the PC case, about as wide around as the palm of my hand. According to Trazyn, that was the 'reactor' and it was generating enough power to keep my entire neighborhood lit up for a week. Or to run the equivalent of a necron PC for a few hours. Necron power and how they got it was… weird, and I didn't understand it. Trazyn insisted I eventually would, but at the moment it was gibberish techno babble mixed with poetry. So utterly alien.

Regardless, with Trazyn's help, I was able to power on my new PC with but a thought. Two emerald screens flashed before me, one the size of my old monitor and the other forming keys in the Necron language. That I immediately understood and recognized.

I glanced from my chair up at Trazyn, "Is this because of you?"

He nodded, "I am in your brain. I can directly upload certain knowledge to the appropriate portion of your mind. Of course, this is a slow process, and I am being very cautious about it. It's easy to impart basic knowledge like this, but something more complex could risk damaging your more delicate components."

The thought of being rendered brain dead by the alien equivalent of an outhouse blueprint being uploaded to my brain certainly would rank high on the list of embarrassing ways to die. So I nodded silently instead, and reached out to the holographic keyboard. To my fingers it felt real and solid, like it was actually there. I almost instinctively knew that the keyboard was being projected by the computer, but that I could only see or interact with it because of my connection to Trazyn. Without him, it would just be a really large fancy paperweight.

Necron coding was just like human coding it turned out. In that it was complicated, confusing, and made my brain hurt. The difference was that I had that innate understanding as a result of Trazyn feeding me information as he taught me. I learned the ins and outs of how their computer technology functioned, how to start work on the virus, and even how to issue commands to Khepri via the interface. With a little practice and advice from Trazyn, I set the little robot to work again while I worked on that virus.

Honestly, what Khepri was working on was far more interesting than the lines and lines of code I had to assemble. If I got good enough at this, Trazyn insisted, I could eventually create simple intelligences to handle things like this for me, but he was fairly certain that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. So for now I was stuck tediously typing at my haptic keyboard, stopping only for the occasional bathroom break and snack.

About two or three hours after my lunch break, Khepri made a chirping sound that signaled he'd completed his task. I let out a sigh of relief and rolled away from my computer to him. When I had set him on his little task, I'd given him an appropriate amount of mass to construct the device that Trazyn had suggested. A few old clothes that I had long grown out of and some old boxes had gone into the thumb sized talisman that I rolled between my fingers.

"It looks rather… plain." I said. It was made of the same smooth black stone as my pc (I was noticing a trend) and a single green line ran around its thin edge. A rune flashed faintly along its surface, pulsing at my touch.

"It is the equivalent of a child's trinket." Trazyn explained, "But, a phase shifter will certainly be useful to you in the event of an emergency. This one can only hold enough energy for about a solid minute. You won't be able to use it again for another 24 hours afterwards."

"What's the maximum one of these can last?" I asked. A phase shifter, if the name wasn't obvious, was a device that shifted someone into another 'phase' of reality, and rendered them completely invulnerable, and ethereal. Necron constructs used them to make repairs to delicate machinery, so there was no need to remove panels or machinery to get at a broken part. The obvious usefulness of such a device had not been lost on me.

Trazyn shrugged, "Oh one minute believe. The larger the surface area it has to cover, the more power required obviously. But the larger ones can recharge within a few minutes, so long as they are connected to a quantum network."

Right, another item to add to my long list of things to build. A quantum network was basically a Necron power grid, only using quantum technology, duh. Their reactors would naturally form these networks over insane distances, and could use them to amplify their individual power. The more generators in a network, the greater the range and the greater the overall power. It was a quadratic effect, not a linear one, and was much higher on the list than other items, as cool as a 'Doomsday Ark' sounded.

I folded my hand around the talisman and stood up facing the mirror hanging from my door. Despite the bags under my eyes, I was smiling. My grin grew a little wider, "Right then! Well, let's test it so I know how to use it in the future."

"Of course." Trazny agreed. "If you wish to use the talisman as you are, you simply need to make contact with it and say 'phase' aloud. Just the word, if you say it in a sentence or as part of another word, it won't work. Otherwise one could accidentally activate it simply while in conversation."

Seemed simple enough. I held up the talisman and focused on its smooth edges. My heart hammered in my chest, from nervousness, excitement, from both! The computer had been cool, but this was something far more unique.

"Okay, here we go. Phase!" Emerald light flashed in the palm of my hand, and a tingling sensation like goosebumps ran over my entire body, making me shudder. And then my clothes promptly fell off me in a pile on the floor, leaving me standing naked in the middle of my room.

I screamed and covered my bits, while Trazyn clucked his tongue, "Oh my, that wasn't supposed to happen."

"No shit!" I shrieked, and fumbled for my clothes.

"Taylor, wait-" Trazyn started, too late.

My hand passed through the floor, and I tumbled through my room's floor and landed on the front porch in a heap. Oh right, phase technology. I groggily got to my feet, wrapped an arm around my chest and tried running into the house through the wall, and faceplanted into the front window and fell back on the ground.

"Minute time limit, remember?" Trazyn said as he appeared beside me.

"Fuck off!" I hissed while scrambling off my bare ass and running for the door. My face was flushed a brilliant shade of crimson and I sincerely hoped that no one in the neighborhood had seen that. Also, thank _god _dad was still at work, I had no idea how I'd even begin to explain that to him.

I ran back inside and slammed the door behind me before scurrying back upstairs into my room. It took all my willpower not to chuck the damn talisman out the window in frustration.

"Okay Trazyn, what the hell?" I demanded. This time, I was much more cautious about picking up my clothes, until I was sure I wasn't going to fall through the floor again.

Trazyn reappeared in front of me as I pulled my underwear on, and said, "The talisman's effects only work on what it considers to be a part of your 'body'. Your clothing is not, therefore it phased through you when you activated it."

"And you didn't think to mention this before I used this?" I snarled while hopping into my pants.

"Taylor, I have not had to get dressed in over 60 million years. The thought literally never occurred to me."

I grumbled and glared at him, but couldn't argue with his point. Instead I sighed and rubbed my temples, "Okay, fine, that's fair. How do I keep it from happening again?"

"Have the scarab build you proper equipment." Trazyn said simply. "Honestly Taylor, it's not that complicated."

If looks could kill, I would've reduced that skeletal asshole to molten metal.

* * *

_Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

So, that was a problem that I had to nip in the bud real quick. The phase taliman wouldn't exactly be that useful if I was left nude in the middle of the city in the middle of _winter_. As mild as Brockton Bay's weather was, that was only relative to the rest of the north east. We may not have gotten any snow in the past few days, but it was well below 50 degrees on a warm day.

Thankfully, there was an easy solution, but it wasn't a quick fix. The metal that necrons used for their bodies, creatively called necrodermis or 'living metal' was easily replicable by Khepri, and could function as clothing that would properly phase with me when I activated the talisman. The reason for this was a bit more uncomfortable than I had expected.

To start with, I'd had Khepri get to work on some basic under clothes while I finished coding the virus. Living metal was evidently a bit more complex and energy intensive than the materials used in my computer or the talisman's construction, and took longer for Khepri to manufacture. I hid him under my bed to work for the rest of the day, until dad came home late that night.

Dad's work at the docks kept him busy even if business on the docks was slowly dying day by day. Sea trade was risky enough with monsters like Leviathan running around, but the fact that half the bay was filled with sunken ships had all but killed the industry. Dad still fought for it, but I was half convinced that he fought as hard as he did so he didn't have to come home. It was easy to forget about how quiet the house was sometimes since… well anyway, that's not important. Dad came home late at night, he hadn't heard anything about me skipping out on classes that day (thank god), and went to bed a little later.

I finished my virus shortly after dad turned in, finally, and was able to take a good look at the clothes I'd set Khepri to work on. Like I said, they were underclothes: the result was a simple silvery grey tank top and short shorts that would at least preserve my modesty. Satisfied, I had tossed them on the bed, and promptly collapsed into said bed.

An entire day's worth of coding had drained all the energy from me. I had at least been smart enough to set my alarm half an hour early, and snuck out of the house the following morning with a note for dad telling him I was heading to school early to talk with a teacher about a project before class.

The truth was, in my excitement I had stupidly forgotten to design the virus so I could just use it from home. I could fix it, but that would've taken several more hours of work; as annoying as it was, sneaking into the school's library to use one of their computers for my virus was easier. All I had to do was connect the virus via USB, and let the program run itself. Don't ask how I could store an alien computer virus in a USB drive, I didn't quite get it either.

Once I got one of the computers booted up and running, I plugged it in and just had to wait for it to peel apart Winslow's shitty security systems. The significantly weaker processor slowed the hack to a crawl, and I was left fidgeting in my seat. My necrodermis underclothes weren't uncomfortable, they were in fact _too _comfortable. I had been more than a little disturbed to find that they basically conformed to every nonexistent curve of my body on their own accord, and it felt like I was wearing nothing at all under my normal clothes. Thus, I fidgeted in my seat while the progress bar slowly inched its way across the screen.

I was nervous of course; every minute it took, was another minute I risked getting caught. There wouldn't be a lot of kids in the library; hardly anyone used it except to get high, or sneak in a few makeout sessions (typically a mix of the two) but the risk was still there. I might've been able to wait until my computer science class, but that was the third period and I never wanted to sit through another day at this hellhole if I could help it.

Finally, after ten minutes of waiting, the screen flickered and shifted, taking on the familiar green glow of the necron 'os'. Trazyn had been very insulted when I called it that, but didn't deny that it was an apt if primitive translation of what it actually was.

As I got to work, I whispered quietly, "Trazyn, do you have any sort of enhanced senses?"

The self proclaimed curator appeared beside me, "I am, unfortunately, tied to all your sensations. I can only see what you see, and hear what you hear."

His eyes flashed with annoyance, "I can also feel what you feel. Stop squirming."

"This necrodermis underwear you suggested is incredibly uncomfortable," I hissed while typing.

"That's because its temporarily bound itself to your skin. Its less clothing and more of a second skin."

Great, that was why I was so uncomfortable, I'd gone commando in silver body paint. I rolled my eyes and grunted in annoyance, "Anyway, can you keep watch in case anyone comes this way? This should only take a few minutes."  
Trazyn sighed and glanced skyward, "So this is what I have been reduced to, a glorified watchdog? Very well, _Taylor_. I will keep watch."

"You're the best." I chirped cheerily, ignoring the glare he shot me.

I paused and added, "Do I have to talk to you out loud, or can I just think and you'll hear me?"

Another glare.

"Right, getting to work!"

School security, even by human standards, wasn't exactly top of the line. Since the Necrons were quite literally millions of years ahead of us, breaking through was a breeze. I had full access to every record Winslow had filed in the last decade, and could change it all at my leisure. It took me only a minute or two to setup a constant static loop that would mark me as still in attendance and keep my grades at a steady C and B average. I had debated pushing myself up to straight A's, which is what I definitely would have without the Trio constantly sabotaging my school work, but decided that might attract too much attention.

As I was setting this up though, a thought occurred to me. I had access to _everyone's _records, not just mine. That included Emma, Madison, and Sophia's. It included the entire staff of Winslow. With a few keystrokes, I could punish them for everything they'd done. I could end their academic careers forever if I wanted to, or severely hamper them at the least.

"Well, I would certainly argue that they deserve it." Trazyn said from over my shoulder.

I jumped in my seat and glared at him, "You're supposed to be keeping watch!" I hissed.

He shrugged, "I can multitask my dear. As I was saying though, your tormentors have certainly earned your wrath. However, I would suggest that if you are going to act on such an impulse, be subtle in your vengeance. So many have fallen prey to grand designs in an attempt at avenging a perceived wrong. I'd rather not suffer should you follow suit."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You of all people don't seem like the type to 'live and let live'."

Honestly, Trazyn seemed like the kind of guy that would tear an entire person's life apart to get back at them. But then again, reading him and his motives were was difficult. The necron chuckled darkly, "There is certainly nothing inherently unwise about righting a wrong. But, one must keep in mind to temper their wants with the reality of the universe they occupy. Arrogance is an insidious killer."

I listened to what he said, and stared at the computer screen silently. His point was clear enough, I thought; if I was going to get back at these people, I needed to be smart about it. Yes I could absolutely destroy their records… but that would only be the digital copies. No doubt they had hard copies somewhere. At dad's office, everything important that came through the computer's was given a hard paper copy in case something happened to the digital copy. Winslow was full of incompetent people, but I didn't think they were _that _incompetent. Someone could put two and two together, and if they did, then there could be a whole investigation into the school network, which could eventually lead to me.

Obviously no one would ever find the virus, but that might actually make things worse. A normal hacking attempt would be one thing. A tinker trying to break in would catch the attention of the PRT and Protectorate, and then I'd have a serious problem to deal with.  
So, like Trazyn said, I had to temper what I wanted with what I could realistically achieve. I couldn't turn them into flunky drop outs, but maybe I could at least expose the truth on what they had been up to.

After nearly two years of constant bullying, I had long since given up on telling the school about what was going on. Simply surviving day by day was easier than being turned away at the principal's office again. Unfortunately it also meant that the trio had grown creative in their methods. Even at home I hadn't been safe, they'd spammed me with hate filled emails from a dozen different false addresses. There was nothing I could've done at the time, but now with my full access to the school network…

Yup, there it was.

I couldn't track and go through every email sent to and from the network, but I was able to isolate their specific accounts, and from there it was easy finding the false accounts they'd made and taking a catalogue of all their hate filled emails they'd sent me. I debated what to do with them, if I would send them to the school or maybe even the police.

But no, that would be too safe and simple, and they might be able to weasel their way out of it. If I wanted them to pay for what they had done, I needed to make it far more personal, a twisted mirror of their twisted minds. That was going to take time to setup properly, but thankfully time was on my side. I made copies of what I needed and started the process of downloading them. This would take longer than it had for me to 'erase' myself from the records, but it was only 6:45; I had time.

"Oh my, what timing." Trazyn said.

My eyes flicked up toward the library entrance and my blood ran cold. Emma, Madison and Sophia had just walked in, casually talking to one another, Emma cackling at something Sophia had just said. They hadn't noticed me yet, which was good, I might be able to-

No, no no!

The download, it was still in progress! The bar moved at what felt like a glacial pace, inch by agonizing inch across the screen. Two or three minutes at least to finish, stupid public school computer's! That was practically a lifetime at the moment.

They noticed me. Emma of course, her pale eyes flickering toward me and a wicked smile crossing her lips. I froze, and sank slowly into my chair. No, no no! Why!?

Trazyn made a disgusted sound, "Pull yourself together, _child_. Is that any way for you to act in the face of your inferiors?"

I spared him a panicked glance. He stabbed his staff against the ground and I swear the room grew darker. "You are above these cretins, Taylor Hebert. They exist only to destroy and undo the work and the power of their betters. Starving beasts too weak to fight on their own. You have endured them for two years, a large portion of your considerably short life. Yet still you stand, and you no longer stand alone."

He leaned forward, emerald eyes blazing intently, "And I will not stand as an audience to this travesty and endure childish insults. So pull yourself together, Taylor. Bide your time, _strike back_. For two years they've torn you down. You want to do the same to them? Now is the time to start."

We both glanced at the computer screen. "You also have two minutes of waiting bar minimum, and I would rather you not be caught doing this. To be placed in a human prison is one experience I would rather avoid in my unlife."

Right, okay. Stall them, I could do that. This was my last day after all, and I'd built up plenty of things I would say on the last day I'd be here. Of course, those were fun fantasies, or imaginary arguments I had in the shower (that I always won, of course). It was one thing to win an imagined argument, it was quite another to actually have to live your fantasy.

I swallowed the pit in the back of my throat, felt it crash into my stomach, and forced myself to my feet. My legs were trembling, my throat was dry, and I felt on the edge of tears. I didn't want to do this, I really didn't want to do this.

Madison whispered to Emma as they approached me and the two of them broke into conniving giggles. Sophia wore a sadistic grin on her face, that only grew wider as they approached. Starving beasts, yeah right, more like hungry wolves. Wait, that was the same thing.

"Hey Hebert, we thought you'd finally snapped. Daddy force you back here so he wouldn't have to look at your pathetic face?" Emma sneered. "I don't blame him of course, considering what you did to your mom."

Funny thing. Rage is a hell of a motivator.

My terror and worry immediately evaporated, and I put on my coldest smile as I clapped my hands together and said, "Actually, Emma, Madison, Sophia, I was just about to come looking for you three. See, I wanted to congratulate you all."

That made them stop, if only out of confusion. I don't think they knew how to comprehend me being _nice _to them.

"You won," I said. "That's it. Congratulations, you won. I am done at Winslow, I am leaving and never coming back. I just thought you might want to know that, since you all so obviously need a win in your lives."

"Wha-"

I interrupted, words pouring from me in a river, "I mean, look at yourselves. Emma I know you've always been insecure, but this is sad even for you. You spend all your time with a brainless thug that only hangs around you so you give her an excuse to hit people, and a vapid airhead with so much brown on her nose its racially offensive. I know I wasn't exactly the best friend, but this is almost as pathetic as you dying your hair red for, what, ten years straight now?"

Oh, _that_ was the wrong thing to say. That was really the wrong thing to say.

"Wow!" Trazyn said, "You know, I don't think I've ever seen a human turn quite that shade of purple before. Your species truly astounds me with its versatility sometimes."

"You're _dead _Hebert!" Emma screeched.

I bolted for the library's emergency exit, ripping the USB from the computer as I did. Chairs went tumbling aside as the trio broke after me into a run. They'd catch me if I tried shoving the heavy metal door open, but I didn't plan on actually using the emergency exit. At the last second, I juked left, slamming my shoulder into Madison. I wasn't the heaviest person out there, in fact I was more bone than skin, but I was very tall for a girl my age, and Madison was very short. I practically barreled through her and went sprinting for the normal exit.

"Get her!" Emma screamed.

I stumbled out of the library into the hall, and sprinted for the stairs. The library was on the second floor, and thankfully the halls were mostly empty. Winslow wouldn't start to fill up with students for another ten or fifteen minutes, which left plenty of open space for me to run through. Unfortunately, that applied to my pursuers too.

The library door behind me banged open three more times behind me, and I could hear the squeak of sneakers and the clack of boots. Sophia was probably the main one chasing me, I thought as I gasped for breath. I was not in great shape, and she was a track star, it was not a matter of if she could catch me, but when.

The stairs loomed ahead, thank god, and I shot out an arm to grab onto the handrail. The sudden stop felt like it was trying to jerk my arm out of its socket, before I curled inward and started stumbling down the stairs. I could hear the trio getting closer behind me.

"You can't run forever Taylor!"

That was true, but I only needed to outrun them. I hit the bottom of the stairs and took off to my left, my sneakers squealing on the linoleum. My legs nearly went out from under me in surprise; Sophia was coming from around the corner, sprinting hard at me with murderous intent. I scrambled backwards and went sprinting in the opposite direction, hanging a right toward the rear of the school.

If I wasn't running for my life; I might've thought more about how the hell she beat me downstairs, but that was a minor problem at the moment. It was obvious to me that I wasn't going to outrun the trio, they were going to catch me if this kept up as is. Thankfully, I had my own ace in the hole.

I reached into my pocket as I ran, and felt the smooth surface of my phase talisman. Khepri had made another along with my new clothes, since the original was still charging. I was so thankful I had been smart enough to bring it, now I just prayed it would work with the living metal undies I was wearing.

An upcoming alcove between the walls of lockers came into view, and I ran straight at it. At the same time, I hissed, _"Phase!_" and passed straight through the wall. Darkness enveloped me as I passed through the dusty internals of Winslow high, interrupted by the occasional flash of light as I ran through several empty classes. Then I emerged into empty frigid air, and fell face first into the dirt.

"...Ow…" I grumbled. Pain filled my body, a sore aching pain that ran up my legs and my core. I rolled onto my back, panting hard trying to catch my breath. "Pain… so much pain."

_"Oh, my apologies." _Trazyn said. _"It's just, your body is in such poor shape at the moment… I may have temporarily suppressed your sense of pain while we fled from your aggressors. My control over you is limited, but that was simple enough. Alas, I could only maintain it for a few minutes."_

"I can tell." I gasped, and slowly pushed myself to my feet. That was a painful process, as my legs didn't quite bend how they were supposed to and I stumbled about like I was on stilts until I was finally standing up. New addendum to my plan, daily exercise was a must. If I was going to be a hero, a quick sprint should not leave me breathless.

I looked down at myself once I was standing, and saw that my silvery undergarments had remained firmly attached. I raised an arm and let out a tired cheer, "Whoo, I did it."

"Yeah, you go girl!" a voice called behind me. I whirled to see a group of sophomore boys walking along the street toward the school entrance, all of them hooting and hollering at me in my state of undress.

They cheered even as I flushed and ran straight for the locker rooms. I had a spare set of clothes in there, I could get changed and go home. The sooner the better, I'd only been outside for a few minutes and already the cold air had sapped all the warmth from my body. I hugged myself and my teeth were starting to chatter.

A thought occurred to me as I moved out of site of my abhorrent admirers, and it made me stop and curse.

"Fuck!"

The USB, the one with all those files I could use to get back at the trio, what I had risked a severe beating for? Yeah, it was a normal USB, no living metal or real modifications. Which meant when I activated my phase talisman, it dropped with the rest of my clothes. Which meant after all that, I still had to go back inside to get it.

* * *

**A/N: And so the shenanigans begin! This chapter was actually a lot of fun to write. Silliness with Taylor and Trazyn, I got to mess around with some basic Necron tech, and even got the Trio subplot mostly out of the way already. Yeah, don't expect too much out of them, they're kind of a non issue in the grand scheme of things.  
**

**We got fun times next chapter. Also, I apologize to any computer geeks out there if I butchered anything related to electronics. I am not a sciency mathmatical tech person, and while I have an overall understanding of how things like computers work, I won't pretend to be an expert on the details. Which is admittedly, one of the advantages of the Necron and their bullshit tech I suppose.  
**

**Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Please leave your comments and criticism below, and I'll see you guys next time!**


	5. Traveling 1-4

**Traveling 1.4**

_Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

No no no!

This was my mind as I ran barefoot through the halls, and resisting the urge to cover myself. I was modest even if my new choice of fashion showed off more than I was comfortable with, but everyone I passed stopped and stared as I ran by. Honestly, if I was still planning on attending Winslow, this would basically have destroyed any semblance of normalcy I might've hoped for.

That was at the back of my mind though. I was mostly focused on scolding myself for being so stupid and short sighted. Yes, I had easily lost the trio using the phase shifter, but without the USB drive, all that work was for nothing! Stubbornness and panic had driven me back into the school to grab the drive before someone else found it, and my clothes.

It was only as I reached the hall where I had phased, that it occurred to me that it might not be worth the effort. If the trio caught me, I was definitely dead. Metaphorically at least, but literally wasn't exactly off the table either.

I shook my head, and focused. Finding the alcove where I had phased wasn't hard, and more than a few students stared at me as I ran up to my pile of clothes and started sorting through them. My vision came back into focus when I found my glasses and slipped them back on, then I quickly fumbled through my clothes and found the USB in my pants pocket.

Good, that was one more problem solved. I grabbed my clothes and shoes, electing to run first and get dressed later. Every second I spent was another second I risked-

"What the- What are you doing Taylor?"

-Getting caught.

Fuck.

I whirled around to find Emma standing in the hall, staring at me with a bewildered expression on her face. Oh god! I jumped back against the wall, nearly dropping my clothes in the process. There was a loud clacking sound, and my face went pale. The phase talisman had slipped from my grip and bounced across the floor, coming to a stop at Emma's foot.

Trazyn materialized behind her, peering over my former friends shoulder while stroking his chin, "My my, this is an _unfortunate _development."

Emma looked down, cocked her head to one side, and picked up the talisman. She rolled the stone between her fingers a few times, and I saw a slow dawning realization on her face. Eyes went from me, to the stone, and back again, each time her expression grew more and more shocked.

This was the worst outcome, the only possible way it could be worse is if the rest of the Trio showed up. I would've looked, but I was frozen in place, shivering from the cold but unable to move otherwise. Emma looked at me one more time, and I was surprised by the expression on her face. Worry and fear, along with a perplexing relief.

Then, without warning, she shoved the stone back into my hand, grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me out of the alcove and shoved me towards back down the hall. I stumbled and almost fell over when I heard what she said.

"Run Taylor! Get out of here before the others circle back around!"

I looked back at her, now completely confused. Her expression hardened and she pushed me again. Not a shove, but an urgent frantic push towards the exit, "Did I fucking stutter? I said, _run_!"

The gears clicked, and I took off down the hall, feet slapping against the tile with every step that I took. The entire time, I couldn't get the image of her face out of my head. Why had she helped me now? She knew the truth, it was obvious she had put two and two together and at least assumed I had powers now. Why would she tell me to run like that if she knew? Fear I had expected, maybe even disgust at me not even being able to use my 'powers' right. But concern?

No, something was up, she was working an angle on me or who knew what, and I would figure out what it was one way or another. As soon as I had gotten away from the school. And was wearing pants, of course.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" I kicked my desk hard enough to send me rolling back in my chair.

When I had gotten home (not a fun walk even with my clothes back on by the way), the first thing I'd done was plug the drive in to see if everything had come out intact. Turns out, I hadn't given anywhere near enough time for the stupid thing to finish downloading, so most of the data was either missing or corrupted.

After all that, I was understandably angry. Sitting in front of the TV all day eating ice cream sounded a bit appealing, even though I knew I wouldn't. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it. I would have to deal with Emma and company later, when things stabilized and I had the time to waste on them. Until then, focusing on building up a base of useful necron tech was the best and most pragmatic use of my time.

I ignored Trazyn's reappearance as I stood up from my chair and stomped downstairs, into the basement. It was a dank, dark place filled with spiders that had once been used for the house's boiler. Now it was mostly just used for storage; old clothes, nick-nacks… mom's things from before the accident. Neither dad or I really ever came down here, which meant it had been the perfect place to let Khepri loose.

When Trazyn had first explained how his canoptek scarabs worked, leaving them alone to work had seemed out of the question. After I had gotten my new computer up and running though, my tune on this had changed; being able to program Khepri to operate within very specific parameters gave me a measure of control that was surprisingly calming. So, I was able to leave him alone while I was at school to work on my next project: a better undersuit.

My unfortunate test that day had at the very least confirmed that necrodermis was compatible with phase shifting, which meant I would need something a little more modest than a tanktop and panties - and pockets. Khepri had been working on it all morning, a full body suit that covered everything except my hands and face, and which could be completed with gloves and a mask.

Like my previous outfit, it was a shiny silver that was soft to the touch and nearly weightless compared to what I usually wore. As I pulled it on to test the fit, I asked aloud, "You've been vague about this Trazyn. How durable is this stuff?"

The necron archivist appeared at the foot of the stairs, back turned while I got changed. He didn't care about me being undressed, of course, but he had made it clear he had no interest in dealing with me when I suffered a 'hormonal outburst brought on by alien sensibilities'. Whatever his reasons, I appreciated the gesture regardless.

"The layer is thin and only skin deep. Most knives won't be able to cut you, and you could probably suffer small arms fire from those primitive weapons your enforcers carry with only bruising. I would not recommend trying to withstand anything more powerful, not without a thicker layer of Necrodermis, though." he said.

The suit immediately tightened and clung to my body once I had it on all the way, until I was basically wearing a second skin. God that felt weird. I tried pulling it free, but only succeeded in pinching myself; the suit would only come off if I tried to remove it at the neck; I made a mental note for modifications if I needed to take a bathroom break.

"Well, I hadn't planned on running around in spandex anyway," I said as I pulled my clothes back on. I paused, and pat Khepri on his little head. The scarab let out what I assumed was an appreciative chirp, and let me pick him up.

"But we'll get to that when we get to it. We've got a lot of work to do."

Trazyn turned around to face me, "Indeed. I feel there is much more for us to discuss in regards to the functions of _my _technology. In fact, it may be prudent that I mention this now:here is a very low chance that anyone could've been able to read anything on that primitive storage medium had you not gone back for it."

I froze as I pulled my shirt on over my head. "What?"

He shrugged, "We had to modify it, remember? Without proper preparations, your flash drive couldn't read let alone hope to store anything remotely resembling a complex program written from necron technology."

I stared at him for a long minute, making a conscious effort not to scream at him. Instead, I ground out through my teeth, "Why. Didn't. You. Say. Anything?"

Trazyn's glowing eyes gleamed, "Because, it was funny to me."

It was very disappointing to learn that I couldn't strangle Trazyn physically or mentally. The damn alien robot deserved it after the stunt he'd pulled. Instead, I had to settle for the next best thing, giving him the cold shoulder while I worked. Slight problem with that, Trazyn was a 60 million year old robot; his patience was a lot deeper than mine, and he still had control over what I could and could not learn from his archive.

When I inevitably hit a roadblock on reprogramming my virus to function remotely, I caved long before he did and had to apologize. That would've been bad enough on its own, but the bastard had to act all smug about it, too. Less than a day had gone by, and I was already starting to regret this partnership.

Once he started helping again, time flew by. While I coded, I set Khepri into overtime again. Yesterday had been test day, pushing the ropes to get a feel for the basics. Now that I had a general understanding of those, I was itching to push things along further. This started with me ordering Khepri to start multiplying.

Along with being able to make anything in Trazyn's archive, Khepri could also duplicate himself, at an alarming rate, I might add. Five minutes after I gave the command, he'd built three copies of himself, and a dozen smaller ones the size of my fingernails. Since each scarab was tied into the quantum network, I only had to dedicate one or two to accumulating mass while letting the rest get to work.

Khepri and one of his equally sized clones got to work constructing more phase talisman for me, while I set their smaller counterparts to work on a new set of glasses. Consulting with Trazyn had helped me put together a basic user interface I could integrate into a pair of spectacles that would let me interact with the scarabs and anything they built. Technically, Trazyn could simply transplant a UI straight into my eyes, but it took less stress off my brain and implants to let external necron technology handle that. Besides, I was able to add a zoom feature to them too, so they acted like miniature binoculars!

It wasn't anything that would change the face of Brockton Bay, _yet_, but it was a strong start. It also kept my mind occupied and calm as I slowly worked my way through the appropriate modifications I needed to send my virus back to Winslow. Right as I was finally finishing up though, the house phone rang.

That wasn't too odd, we got calls from telemarketers all the time, so I barely paid it any mind. But when it went to the answering machine, I froze at the person speaking over the line. Emma's voice was clear as day. I stopped typing mid stroke, and barely even paid attention as Trazyn chuckled in amusement.

_"Hey… Taylor. If you're home right now, I don't blame you for not picking up the phone. I've done a lot of stupid things over the last two years. A lot of terrible things to you; if you hate me, I wouldn't be surprised. But, I… things changed today. If I had known you had… if you were different, I would've called sooner. God, I've thought about how to say this for a while now, but it's a lot harder to actually say it."_

There was a pause; the only sound in the house was the hum of Khepri and his children working, and me attempting to crush the edge of my desk with my bare hands.

_"Look, I know you probably hate me now, so I'll just say this. I'm sorry for what I did, so, _so _sorry. And, I know you have no reason to, but… please, if you can. Meet me at the… at the cemetery after school today. We need to talk. Calling you like this… there are lives at risk now. I… sorry, I need to go."_

Her voice broke at the end, and the phone hung up. My jaw hurt from clenching it so tight, and I glared venomously at Trazyn, who was doing his stupid chin stroking thing again. His eyes were filled with machiavellian glee, and I had no desire to entertain whatever scheme he was already planning.

I focused on my screen and said, "I'm not going."

"It sounds like a fascinating opportunity." Trazyn replied.

"She doesn't deserve _anything _from me except my contempt."

"Which you can give to her in excess if you meet her there."

"It's entirely possible she's bringing the trio, in which case I'm walking into a trap."

Trazyn looked at me with dry amusement. "Taylor, if that concerns you, bring the scarabs. They exist for more than just building. Even if you have no desire to kill your tormentors, which frankly you should, the scarabs are quite effective at rending flesh even without using their particle slicers."

I stared at him, and started to realize just how different our views on morality were. I shook my head and said, "Maybe. But I still don't want to see her. You can't make me."

At that, Trazyn laughed, "Oh ho ho! Child, I may not be able to control you, but making you do my bidding is far easier than you would like to believe. You do like understanding and knowing how to build and control my technology, don't you?"

I glared at him, "You're really going to pull this again."

The necron shrugged, "In all honesty, Taylor, you seem to be under the impression we share the same goals. This is a partnership to ensure we fulfill both our wants. You want to bring order and safety to your home; a fair and noble cause, inspiring even… if you can achieve it. I, on the other hand, merely wish to add to my collection and, of course, be entertained. This is, after all, my holiday. And what good is a holiday if you spend the entire time working?"

At this rate, I was going to break something if I kept clenching my jaw like I was. I eased off and folded my arms, "It's not a fair partnership if you blackmail me every time you want to do something you know."

"You could of course, simply resume your normal life and try to outlast my patience." Trazyn replied, obviously amused, "But, then again, we've seen how well that has panned out for you thus far, haven't we?"

I turned back to my computer screen, a sneer on my face. "Fucking… fine. If we go, will you at least stop with this blackmail?"

"I will limit it… for now."

The sad part was, I had a feeling that was the best deal I was going to get.

My first time to the Brockton Bay Cemetery had been three years ago, following what could only be described as the worst day of my life. Losing mom had destroyed my family, and eventually my friendship with Emma; at least, I had assumed that had played a role in it. The funeral we had held had been one of the last times I could genuinely remember her friendship. How fucked up was that?

I had to take a bus to the northern end of the city. This graveyard was at the base of one of the mountains that surrounded Brockton Bay. As far as graveyards went, it was generic. Old greying stone walls that stretched over my head, a wrought iron fence, and several acres of headstones, some too faded to make out anymore, others disturbingly fresh. Mom's was near the back on a nice hill that gave a sobering view of the city.

Trazyn hadn't said much on the busride up, for which I was thankful. This was clearly a personal matter; if I'd had the ability to, I'd have let him stay at home. As it was, his respectful silence was appreciated.

Khepri and his clones comfortably fit in one of my spare backpacks, and I kept playing with the new bracelet hanging around my wrist. The phase talisman's biggest flaw had always been how long it took to recharge. So now, I had a bracelet made of nine of them hanging from my wrist. Nine get out of jail free cards, I would still need to be careful about using them. I had one more spare in my jacket pocket, but that was purely last ditch. I wasn't going to take any more chances, though a part of me said that coming at all had been a mistake. I tried to lie to myself, to think it was too late to turn back now though. It sort of worked, anyway.

The graveyard was mostly empty: I saw one or two mourners, possibly there to pay their respects, but not many besides that. I stopped at the gate, and after checking to make sure no one was nearby, I zipped open my bag and let the scarabs loose. All four lifted high into the air with a soft hum of anti-gravitic engines, and sped off to scout ahead.

Obviously I didn't trust Emma to have come alone. I expected Sophia or Madison or all three of them to be here, waiting to ambush me. A small part of me hoped this wasn't the case, that naively hopeful side, but I knew better than to risk it without checking first. The only reason I was here, was the same reason it seemed Emma had called me there. I had powers now, I could defend myself.

My glasses lit up with necron runes, feeding me information on what Khepri and co. had found. A few more mourners, a graveyard worker, and Emma. She was standing by my mother's grave wearing a thick jacket with her hood pulled up. The scarabs completed a sweep three hundred yards around, and as far as they could tell, she was alone.

So far so good.

I set off into the cemetery, following the path with slow steps. There was no point in rushing things, Emma could damned well wait. While I walked, I could use that time to think of what to say to her, how to act. She'd caught me flat footed for years, her and the others, but now I had the element of surprise on my side.

But when I reached her, all of those words died in my throat. Expectations vs reality, reality won out. Emma straightened up when she saw me, but didn't say a word. Neither did I. Instead, I approached moms grave and knelt in front of it, reaching into my backpack to pull out a simple note I'd written. It wasn't anything special; just a reminder that I loved her, and I missed her. I heard Emma shifting uncomfortably behind me.

I clenched my jaw and didn't look at her when I said, "What do you want Emma?"

More anxious shifting, but she still remained silent. I didn't hide my annoyance when I stood up and turned to glare at her. When I saw her face, I paused, shocked. Emma had pulled her hood down and her makeup was gone.

I hadn't realized how thick it must've grown over the years, because she barely looked the same pretty, hateful girl I'd grown accustomed to. Heavy bags hung under eyes, which gave her face a gaunt expression. There was a bruise on her chin, and I could see a few very faint scars running along the right side of her cheekbone. They were barely visible, but stood out in stark contrast against her pale skin.

Emma looked at her feet with obvious shame, "I'm sorry Taylor. I should've… I'm sorry."

My surprise evaporated, replaced with anger. "Sorry doesn't cut it _Emma_. You think after the last two years you can drag me out here, apologize, and expect things to be sunshine and rainbows?! How stupid do you think I am!?"

She bit her lip and refused to meet my eyes. I snorted and shouldered my bag, "If this is because of what happened today, then you're even more pathetic than I thought."

"Sophia's been threatening to kill me." she suddenly blurted.

Another pause, another moment for me to digest my surprise. That… was unexpected. From the way they acted, I'd always assumed Emma was in charge. And she certainly hadn't acted like her life was in danger. But then again, Emma had literally been wearing a mask of makeup for who knows how long, so nothing made sense anymore.

I scowled behind my glasses, ordering them to zoom in on her scars. Even though it could be a long time before I used it properly, my glasses had been built with rudimentary crime detection software and hardware. Basically, they could identify simple injuries and date them if necessary. I hoped I would never have to use them, but I wanted to be prepared. If they were accurate, then the scars on her face were around a year old at least. The bruise was from at least two days ago.

"Explain." I said, firmly.

She nodded, "Remember after the… accident, when you went off to summer camp?"

I did. Right before we started at Winslow, I had gone to summer camp to get my mind off of what had happened at home. Dad's idea, it had helped, until I got home. Emma had been distant when I returned, avoiding me at first at Winslow, and then slowly turning around to make my life hell. Snide comments first when I tried talking to her, then flatout insults, and then she and the trio had actively started hunting me down. So yes, I remembered summer camp.

Emma continued, "While you were at camp, dad I were… we got mugged by the ABB. Dad and I were separated, and the things they said they were going to do, it… well, we were saved. Shadow Stalker got involved, and things fell apart. I was panicked, I wanted to escape, to find dad and go home. One of them came after me as I ran, and I… killed him. Using one of the bolts Shadow Stalker had fired."

What.

Emma saw my expression and paled, "I didn't mean to! It was an accident, I just wanted him to let me go and I hit something important. He died, but the police never mentioned him; I found out why later that night. Shadow Stalker found where we lived and came to my house, snuck into my room. At first she acted friendly, trying to praise me for… that. I wanted nothing to do with her, I was terrified. When she realized, she got angry. Started threatening me, threatening to tell the police about what I had done. She had hidden the body you see, and that was the only reason they didn't know. I freaked, I panicked and begged her not to."

She shrugged her shoulders, "She held it over my head. Used it to blackmail me. Money, clothes, food. It started small, then it got worse. More and more she wanted, pushing a little farther each time. Eventually she had me start helping her on her runs, acting as her 'mission control'. That was when I tried telling her I was done."

I was starting to put two and two together, and I felt my anger returning. "Shadow Stalker is Sophia, isn't she?"

Emma nodded wordlessly, and I cursed. That explained why the school had become even less responsive to them in the last year. Shadow Stalker was a fucking _Ward_. She worked for the Protectorate, the government sanctioned super team in charge of dealing with parahumans across Brockton Bay and the United States as a whole. The Wards were their teenage underlings, trained to use their powers and eventually become members of the Protectorate themselves when they became adults. If Sophia had been a Ward, then Blackwell had probably jumped at the chance to get ahold of some cold government funding. It explained the metal detectors that had been installed at the beginning of the year at least, for as much good as those had done anyway.

Emma continued, "When I told Sophia I didn't care about her blackmail, that I wasn't going to help her do what she did, she didn't take it well. She threatened my family, threatened to reveal what I'd done.. Threatened you."

I stared blankly at her, trying and failing to buy what she was selling. It all sounded far too convenient, even if some of it made sense.

My anger hadn't died though, and I folded my arms, "So what, now you're going to tell me she blackmailed you into bullying me?"

Emma shook her head, "No. I tried staying away from you so Sophia would think you and I weren't friends anymore. So she'd leave you alone. Instead she thought I was 'taking her lessons to heart' and wanted to go after you too."

She covered her face, "I'm not clever Taylor. I was afraid to tell you anything because if Sophia found out she could've hurt you."

I scowled, "So you decided to turn into my worst nightmare instead? Why not tell me, come to me and we could've stood against her together!"

Emma at least had the decency to continue looking ashamed. "Like I said, not clever. I was still scared of the blackmail she was holding over me at the time. From there it just… got worse. After a while, if I spoke up, Sophia would… hurt me. And then she'd go after you."

She rubbed at the scar on her cheek. "She's not gentle about anything. She's insane Taylor, completely off her rocker."

I sneered at her, "Well, that's terrible isn't it? Being at the mercy of someone you can't even fight back against? I wonder how that feels. _Oh wait_!"

"What do you want me to say Taylor!?" Emma yelled, "That I'm an idiot!? That I was a stupid scared kid, that I'm a terrible person!?"

She grabbed at her hair and let out a long sigh, "I know… things will never be the same between us. Ever. I can't undo what I did, I fucked up. All I want is your help."

"My help?"

"Your help." she nodded, "You have powers now. You can do things that I could never do. You're my one hope of beating Sophia, of freeing me from her. Please!?"

I stared at her, long and hard. At about this time I wished I'd picked up that damn phone so I could at least ask Trazyn what he thought. My thoughts were racing, I could barely think clearly. If what Emma said was true, and that was a big if, I wasn't sure if that made the last two years better or worse. But, with that said, if what she said was true, I couldn't leave her at the mercy of someone like Sophia.

Now, I hated Emma. Even with what she told me, I couldn't shake my disgust and anger at her. If anything, they both felt magnified at the moment. At the same time, I had already decided what I was going to do with the technology Trazyn gave me. I was going to be a hero, someone that helped those that couldn't help themselves, despite the cost to myself. That was what heroes were supposed to do, right?

But I wasn't going to be stupid about it either. I shook my head and said, "All I have is your word to go on Emma, and that doesn't mean much right now."

Emma swallowed, and I swear to god there were actual tears in her eyes. "I-I have proof! Look, see! I've been keeping recordings of my conversations with Sophia on my phone, I've even kept all the text's she's sent me!"

She held out her phone, scrolling through a chat log that detailed a… pretty horrific picture. I felt flashbacks to the past two years, of times when Sophia had been particularly vicious, and Emma quieter than usual. Times when Emma's insults had been particularly dull, or even… weak spirited. I had a queasy feeling that if I compared the dates to her phone to the ones I'd kept in my journals, there'd be a disturbing correlation.

After a minute, I pushed her phone back and said, "Okay, I believe you, but…"

Emma held up a finger, "Hold on. I know you're still mad, so let me at least give you this back before you decide on anything."

She reached into her own backpack, pushing papers aside and mumbling to herself, before pulling out a long slender case. I felt my heart halt in my stomach as Emma held it out to me. There was a weak smile on her face.

"Sophia went after it, but I held onto it. I told her I was going to sell it, but she's… kind of an idiot when it comes to technology."

I gingerly reached out, and took the box in my hands, that were already shaking. I slowly opened it, and suppressed a sob. A silver flute, _my mother's flute_, rested inside, untouched and unmarred. Tears started filling my eyes, I opened my mouth, and-

_Pop!_

I paused, and my eyes flickered to the side. Trazyn was casually leaning against a nearby grave, emerald eyes practically dancing with amusement, and an honest to god _popcorn bag _in his hands. He occasionally grabbed a few kernels and flung them at his face were they exploded into little bits of emerald mist.

He caught my expression, and shrugged, "Oh, don't mind me. By all means, continue. This is the most drama I've borne witness to in an eon." Complete. Asshole. I barely managed to keep from saying anything.

I shook my head and closed the case before looking at Emma. "Okay Emma. I'll help you, but I need two things from you. First, you confess to everything you did to me. I don't care what your motives were, you were incredibly stupid for handling things like that and you're not getting off scot free for this."

She nodded eagerly, making no attempt to hide her tears "Yes, of course! I'll do anything!"

Trazyn cackled, and I felt my lip twitch. "Secondly, call Sophia to your home tonight at about Seven PM. I'll meet you beforehand and ambush her when she shows up. I have a few toys that should be able to take care of her easily enough."

Already, I had started running through the devices I knew of, debating what to use on her. The tachyon arrow sounded tempting in a morbid way, but I didn't want to reduce half the city to a smoking crater, so I shelved it. There were plenty of other options, but I'd need time to prepare them.

Emma swallowed, but her demeanor had changed, she was bouncing on the balls of her feet now and there was palpable excitement in her expression. It only then occur to me that I hadn't seen a genuine smile from her since before summer camp. What else had I missed over the past two years?

Questions for later.

I reached into my pocket and produced a phase talisman, "Now, before I go, I'm going to give you this. It's a phase talisman, it'll make you completely intangible when you use it. All you have to do is hold it, say 'phase' and you'll be untouchable for sixty seconds."

Emma took it from me and raised a brow, "This is how you got away from Sophia this morning, isn't it?"

"Maybe." I said, and grinned, "Go ahead, try it, its perfectly safe."

Behind her, Trazyn coughed and started laughing madly, shouldering his popcorn and clapping his hands together. I kept focused on Emma, but felt my grin widen.

She eyed the talisman, then me, bit her lip, and finally shrugged, "Okay. Phase!"

You know, sometimes life has a funny way of working out for the little guy. That was without a doubt, the hardest I laughed in a _long_ time.

**A/N: Ah man, I am going to get fucking eviscerated for this chapter aren't I? Before y'all break out the torches and pitchforks, I would like to preface and say that there are two important factors to keep in mind. This fic is obviously AU to some degree as all fanfiction is, and Taylor has an issue of seeing things from other peoples perspectives. In this case though, I wanted to try something new with the trio instead of the standard 'everyone is caught and dealt with like they would be in a rational/sane world'. So things are going a bit off the rails already. I do apologize though if this chapter turned you off from the story, but I won't apologize for it. I will stick with this plot point.**


	6. Traveling 1-5

**Traveling 1.5**

_Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

What surprised me, after I was done laughing at Emma, was that I didn't feel that much better. Sure, after the literal years of abuse I suffered at the trio's hands, a little turnabout definitely felt appropriate. But after hearing Emma's sob story, what I did, felt… childishly petty. No, I wasn't forgiving her, but stooping to what I had once thought to be her level certainly didn't suit me either.

When I saw her bent over and scrabbling for clothes, all while trying to hide the small handful of scars on her body, my unease turned to flatout guilt. There weren't many, but a handful of small and faint scars ran along her ribs and legs, and even her stomach, and those were only the ones I could see. I didn't feel like I'd gotten my revenge, however small; I felt like a bully. I tried looking away from her, only to look at mom's headstone, and my stomach twisted itself into knots.

Damn it.

I crouched and scooped her jacket off the ground and draped it around her bare shoulders. She pulled it tight around herself and looked at me. I looked away, "Look, I… we're not going to be friends Emma. Not like how we were at least. But I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."

"No, no." she slowly started getting dressed as she spoke, "I deserved that. Hell, I would do the same in your position."

I flinched, "Don't… don't do that. I'm having a hard enough time processing this, don't start acting like you're a puppy I'm kicking with my every word."

Emma stood up, pulled her top on and zipped her jacket up, "Okay then, I guess. You said seven, right?"

I bit my lip, "I'll be there at seven. Once I show up, we'll figure out how to deal with Sophia."

She nodded, and paused, "Should I do anything while I wait?"

"Yeah, work on your confession." I said, in a harsh tone. Kicked puppy or not, I wasn't going to let her get off for what she did.

Emma swallowed and paused, looking at me with very clear fear in her eyes, purse in one hand, shoes and socks in the other. "Do you want me to confess everything that I did?"

At that I paused; I wanted Emma punished for what she had done to me, sure. But if what she said about killing that gang member was true, she could get into far, _far _more trouble than she would for the bullying, as merciless as it had been. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I wanted to condemn her to whatever fate confessing to it would bring.

Trazyn paced behind her, staff insistently tapping against the ground as he did. I don't know how he did that, we were on soft grass, but he pulled it off. He met my eyes, set his staff aside, and held his wrist up while tapping it pointedly. It took a lot of self control not to glare at him.

I focused on Emma again and said, "All I want Emma, is justice for what happened. For you turning your back on me and those years of pain you, Sophia, and Madison inflicted on me. I don't care what you say or do with the rest of your dirty laundry, that's your choice.

Relief flashed across her features, and she reached out to hug me, stopping herself before I shoved her away. She looked at the ground awkwardly and shifted on her feet, "Thank you Taylor. I'll tell the school the truth about what happened. I'd do anything to make it up to you for what I did."

_Yeah, make it up to me, or get Sophia off your back? _I thought bitterly.

Trazyn chuckled, "My my, such tension, it's practically palpable!"

I pointedly ignored the peanut gallery, and turned back the way I came. "If I find out you've been lying to me Emma, there's… well it's not going to end well for you, understand? I don't know why, but I'm trusting you on this, so consider yourself lucky if you're telling the truth."

She was silent, and I took that as my cue to leave. I left her there, by my mother's grave, and didn't look back.

The bus ride home was uneventful. I sent Khepri and his siblings on ahead of me to start gathering mass for the equipment I was going to need. My library of necron tech was growing ever larger, and Trazyn made a point to direct me towards a particular favorite of his, apparently.

It was called a tesseract labyrinth, and when I read up on what it could do, a thousand possibilities sprang into my head. They were small pyramid shaped devices that apparently operated similarly to my phase shifter, by using extra dimensional forces. Unlike the phase shifter though, it could trap an entity fully within its own personal pocket dimension, and almost nothing could escape from it. The almost on that last part worried me, but Trazyn claimed he was simply avoiding absolutes, and that for our purposes it would function perfectly.

They came in many sizes, ranging from the size of a deck of cards to larger than the warehouses down by the docks. The one constant between these varying sizes though, was that they all required a lot of mass and a lot of energy; and we didn't have enough time to accumulate the latter.

"We can't draw power from the main grid," I told Trazyn when we arrived at home and I closed the door behind me. "If we did, _someone _would notice if we start to use that much power from one location, and I'm not going to repeat what happened at school just because you're impatient."

Trazyn materialized in the kitchen shaking his head, "Taylor, you made a promise my dear. And while the details of that promise are certainly up to interpretation, your time of arrival is not. Reputation, my dear, will be your greatest weapon in the coming days. Do you wish to be known as an oath breaker?"

I walked into the kitchen, leaned on the table and scowled at him, "Pushing my deadline back by an hour isn't oath breaking, Trazyn. You're just impatient."

He waved a dismissive clawed metal hand, "Yes yes, but you're missing my point. If you cannot even keep as simple a promise as this, then you should not go around making promises you know you cannot keep!"

I rolled my eyes, "I said I would be there at seven, I didn't promise anything."

Trazyn stared at me, emerald eyes unwavering and body entirely still. It was unnerving as hell, he was always animated in some way, but I was very quickly reminded that technically, Trazyn wasn't alive. Not in the traditional sense.

I suppressed a shiver and added, "Besides, if I don't have the tools to deal with Sophia, then I won't be able to help, which is what I _actually _promised to do."

The necron stared at me hard, then shrugged, "Fair enough. Given your physical capabilities a prolonged struggle would likely end poorly for you anyhow."

"Hey!" I said indignantly.

"I merely state the facts, child." Trazyn said, graciously.

It was my turn to glare at him, but it was already clear my glares had no effect on the necron. I folded my arms and huffed. My HUD flickered across my glasses and I mentally pulled up the status of Khepri and his clones. Mass wasn't a problem, and our generator, while small and weak, could produce more than enough energy to at least build the frame of a tesseract labyrinth.

A thought occurred to me and I turned back to Trazyn, "I know the labyrinth draws its power from that reactor in my computer. If I'm reading this right, even though we don't have enough power for it to work traditionally, could it work temporarily before failing?"

Trazyn rubbed his chin, and thought. I felt a tingle at the back of my skull, the telltale sign that he was consulting the information directly. After a moment, he nodded, "Two of your hours, at the maximum, from completion. Which means you would have two hours to arrive at your friend's home-"

"She's not my friend," I interjected.

"-Friend, girlfriend, whatever it is you humans call each other," Trazyn dismissed my complaint and ignored my sputtering, "Regardless, you would need to operate quickly, unless you want this psychotic child to break free in your pocket. Which admittedly would be quite amusing."

Two hours, okay, I could work with that. I broke Khepri and his tiny cousins off from their work and had them start on the tesseract labyrinth. It would take several hours for them to put something that complex together, leaving the two of us plenty of time to plan.

The hours passed by quickly. While we waited, I browsed online real estate for abandoned buildings in Brockton Bay. I'd had a good start at home, but Khepri and company had already carved a sizeable hole in the old coal chute, and I had no intention of causing my house to collapse on itself. We were going to need a proper lab. Trazyn insisted on calling it a crypt, and I insisted on telling him to shut up. We agreed on secret hideout, and he provided 'useful' feedback on each building I brought up.

After several _thrilling _hours of real estate shopping and a quick bite to eat for dinner, I was ready to see if I could in fact strangle him, when Trazyn suddenly and swiftly changed the subject.

"When this is all over, Taylor, I believe we are going to need to expand your court." he said.

I paused what I was doing, and glanced at him over my glasses, "Come again?"

Trazyn gestured with his staff, "A court, servants, minions, those to do the busy work! While this has certainly been an interesting change of pace, it is already growing quite monotonous. I cannot speak for you of course, but I would rather not spend months upon months building and testing technology that _I already know to work._ Only the drollest of the droll could find such monotony entertaining."

I blinked and looked at the kitchen table. The labyrinth was nearly complete, Khepri's smaller cousins swarming over its surface and putting the finishing touches together. I looked back at Trazyn, "So, you want… minions. Don't the scarabs count?"

Trazyn laughed, "Oh my, that is adorable. No, my dear. The Scarabs are tools. Though the difference could be considered semantic, a court could actually think and adapt, and handle even tasks as mundane as directing your scarabs. You and I, as we are now, exist as two halves of a whole. We are the Phaeron, or I suppose Phaerakh considering, of this world. We are _above _this busy work. Let those beneath you busy themselves with the minute details of your work. Your, no _our _plans are so much grander and wider than this, we-"

"You're just bored, aren't you?" I interrupted.

He paused, and set his staff back down with a sharp tap. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought he looked sheepish, "My point stands nonetheless. There is strength in numbers."

Before I had time to consider his words, a ping sounded on my glasses, informing me that the tesseract labyrinth was done. We both turned to it eagerly. The scarabs flit from its edges and vanished into hiding with a single thought.

I suppose pyramid wasn't quite accurate. The labyrinth had a four sided pyramid atop it, but it had a square base rounded at the edges. It was a deep black along its surface, a deeper black than ever I had seen. Endless, soul sucking, light itself poured into its depths, a promise of-

A shock at the base of my skull jerked me to my sense, "Ow! What was that for?"

Trazyn shook his head, "Don't stare at it for too long, lest you be lost forever within its depths. A tesseract labyrinth functions on a fundamentally different level than most of what you have used so far. Treat it with care and respect, or it will destroy you. Understand?"

I swallowed, put off by the seriousness of his tone. "Yeah, I understand."

Of course, I had been aware of this when I had ordered the damn thing be built, but looking at it in person, it was very easy to forget about that. Which was why I had ordered Khepri's clones to build proper equipment for handling it.

Necrodermis gloves, a mask of the same material, and a simple breastplate to go over the skintight suit I was wearing. The gloves were the same thickness as the bodysuit, but the mask was a quarter of an inch thick, with integrated glasses that stopped at my hairline. There had been no time for detail, so I had left the face fairly plain. Instead of the skull theme Trazyn was going for, I had adopted an Egyptian pharaoh look, which resulted in a woman's face seemingly carved from shimmering platinum with eyes that pulsed a pale green.

The breastplate I thought at first was purely flat and practical, but when I looked more closely at it I noticed very slight bumps along its edge. I lowered it and glared daggers at Trazyn. He looked genuinely oblivious.

"What?"

I grunted and looked away from him, putting it to my chest where it adhered instantly to my bodysuit. Like the rest, it was disturbingly light despite its thickness, but felt sturdy. Though I knew my bodysuit was tougher than it looked, having some actual armor equipped made me feel much more confident about myself.

With that equipped, I pulled on a shirt and a jacket over it, grabbed my backpack, and slipped my mask and the labyrinth inside. Being mindful of Trazyn's earlier warning, I carefully pulled it over my shoulder and headed for the door. I paused as I reached for the handle, and rushed back into the kitchen to scribble out a quick note for dad in case he got home before I did that night. I took great pride in not lying, too!

Then, with that settled, I opened the front door… and started for Emma's house.

I didn't live in a bad neighborhood, but it certainly wasn't nice. Emma, coming from a rich family, certainly did. She lived in what our parents called, a mcmansion. One of those cookie cutter fancy houses that is really expensive and nice, but also tacky as hell and identical to the dozen houses on either side of it. As I approached, I released the scarabs to take stock of the area. They told me what I already knew for the most part.

It was a two story house with a half circle driveway, dual garage, and oversized front entrance on a granite patio. This community was where the increasingly small handful of successful inhabitants of Brockton Bay called home, for the most part. The truly successful lived downtown with personal private security. Everyone in Emma's neighborhood had to settle for consistent patrols from the BBPD and the occasional visit from the PRT.

I had gotten an autograph from Armsmaster there once when he was on patrol. It was still hanging from my wall.

We arrived at her front door at seven on the dot, much to my chagrin and Trazyn's smug glee. I reached for the doorbell and hesitated. Of course I hesitated, why wouldn't I? Emma may not have been willing when she said and did what she did, but she still spent two years bullying me and making my life hell. That was hard to forgive and even knowing that she had suffered Sophia's wrath, I had to stop and ask myself, was I really going to help her?

The answer was yes.

I was a hero now, and heroes helped people. Besides, if Sophia was as bad as Emma said, I was probably saving a ton of innocent people down the line from when she inevitably snapped and went villain. That helped my mood considerably, and I finally rang the doorbell.

The door opened and there was Emma, eyes sunken, and wearing what she had on at the cemetery. She'd pulled her fiery red hair into a ponytail and removed her earrings, but she looked the same otherwise. Again, I saw that palpable relief in her eyes and my stomach twisted itself in knots.

"Let's get this over with." I sighed, and stepped inside.

Her house was big on the inside, big foyer with smooth stone (I had no idea what kind) floors, fancy 'avant-garde' paintings hanging from the wall and a staircase leading from the foyer to the second floor. We used to slide down that staircase in laundry baskets when we were little.

I clenched my eyes and forced the memory away, then gave Emma a level look, "I take it the family isn't home?"

She shook her head as she closed the door behind us, "Mom and dad have date night, they won't be home for a few hours hopefully."

I put my hands on my hips, "Okay, that gives us time… um, do you know how to call Sophia here?"

Emma paled, "What? I thought… I dunno honestly. I just… does she have to come here?"

"That would be easier." I said, "I don't know where she lives, and if she comes here, I can set a trap for her. She won't hurt you or anyone else, if we do this right."

Throwing a tesseract labyrinth at her head and hoping it worked didn't seem like it had many ways of going wrong, but I didn't want to risk it. Emma's face had gone from pale to green. "O-oh. Okay. Y-yeah, I have her number."

She pulled her phone from her pocket, and typed something up. When she held it up to me, I read 'I'm tired of working for you, it's time for the truth to come out.' I peered at her over my glasses, "This'll get her to come here?"

Emma swallowed and nodded, "Yeah. This isn't the first time I've tried breaking away. She gets… excited when I do." she casually brushed at the scar on her cheekbone.

I narrowed my eyes, folded my arms, and took a deep breath. "Okay then. Does your room still have that big walk in closet with the grate?"

She nodded, and I smiled, "Then we'll meet Sophia in your room. You get her attention, and I'll ambush her and deal with her from there. Simple, very few ways it can go wrong."

Unless Sophia decided to just snipe Emma with those stupid crossbows I knew she carried with her. Shadow Stalker and those bolts of hers were infamous on the PHO forums. Rumor had it she kept steel tipped ones for when the PRT went lethal, but of course no one had confirmed it.

That ate at me as we marched upstairs to Emma's room. It was almost identical to how I remembered it. The pink had been painted over with a soft cream color and her bed had lost what was left of the girly girl decoration that had already started fading last time I had been there. Some of her old posters were gone, notably the Armsmaster ones, but her desk and computer were still where they were, and her giant closet still had that slit grate with a perfect view of both the door and the window viewing out.

I looked around at this place where so many good memories had been formed and couldn't take it. "Emma, wait." I said.

She turned to me as I started stripping off my clothes and her eyes went wide, "Taylor!? What- oh."

My face flushed even as I shoved my clothes into my backpack and stood in my bodysuit. I peeled off my breastplate and handed it to Emma along with a new phase talisman. "The old phase talisman I, er, gave you, is drained, it won't work. This one will. The armor will protect your chest at least if Sophia gets… violent."

She took both from my hands and marveled at them. "You're really going to help me? After everything I've done?"

I shrugged, "It's what heroes do."

Trazyn made himself known with a groan, "Can we move this along already? I personally would like to get back to more important matters before the night is over, if at all possible."

I ignored that.

I pointed at the closet, "I'll wait there, you send that message and get changed. When Sophia shows up, I'll handle her. I promise."

Emma bit her lip and nodded. I walked past her and slid into the closet with my backpack in one hand. While Emma changed, I pulled out my mask and put it on. The necrodermis immediately adhered to my skin, and there was a brief panicked moment when I couldn't breathe, before the airways cleared and the panic subsided. My vision through the mask was as clear as without it; I definitely didn't need my glasses while wearing it. I folded them and slid them into my backpack, then reached for the tesseract labyrinth. Its surface was chilling to my touch, even through the necrodermis, and I felt a brief pull on my skin that quickly subsided. I decided not to grab it until it was absolutely necessary.

I peered back through the slits in the closet in time to see Emma sitting on the bed with her shirt back on, and no sign of the breast plate she wore. She was clearly and visibly trembling, and even from the closet I could hear her phone furiously vibrating. Sophia wasn't taking well to what she said apparently.

With the bait set, all I we could do now was wait. Trazyn, thank god, kept mercifully quiet during this period, save for a reminder to turn off the glow in my mask. After that, all three of us waited in tense silence, hoping that Sophia would be angry and stupid enough to come straight for Emma.

We didn't have to wait long.

The light switch in Emma's room flicked off, plunging it into darkness. Emma suppressed a shriek and shot to her feet while my masks night vision mode activated and I saw her. Shadow Stalker had Sophia's build, I could see it now, and was a few inches shorter than Emma, maybe 5'4? Despite that, she had presence, her dark costume and ethereal appearance making her appear like a spectre that easily passed through Emma's door and slowly marched toward her.

Emma swallowed and backed toward the window. Shadow Stalker spoke in a chillingly calm voice I didn't expect from her. "No Emma, don't stand there. I might not be able to resist _throwing you out of it_."

She surged across the room and slammed into Emma, pinning her against the wall and snarled, "Do you _really _think you can get away with that, you stupid idiot? That I would _let _you get away with it?"

Sophia was in a prime position for me to ambush her, but I waited. Not to make Emma suffer, no. See, in my mask I had a built in recording device, and I could see what my scarabs saw and record that as well. So I had setup one of my scarabs outside Emma's window to record their entire exchange and wait for Sophia to confess to what she did. I wasn't entirely sure on how legal this was, but I figured if the PRT didn't do anything, I could leak it online. See them deal with her then.

Emma whimpered and seemed to shrink; she was clearly larger than Sophia but seemed positively tiny compared to the girl. Sophia shook her and snarled, "You are _mine_ bitch. You can act brave all you want behind a computer screen, but you're a dog, and I own you. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high, if I tell you to shit, you ask what color. Do you understand me!?"

"N-no." Emma whispered, trembling like a leaf.

I didn't see Sophia hit Emma, but I saw the aftermath. Emma collapsed against the wall, cradling her cheek and tears welling up in her eyes. Sophia let out a cruel laugh, "Oh my god, you gonna cry now baby? Is that it? Poor little white rich girl gonna cry to momma and dadda?"

Okay, that was enough of that. I grabbed the tesseract, ignoring the chill it sent up my arm, and touched my phase bracelet.

"Phase." I whispered, and silently passed through the closet door and into Emma's room. I turned up the glow on my mask and looked directly at emma. Her eyes met mine, and understanding passed between us.

Her fist tightened, and she whispered, "Phase."

And then she was gone, leaving only her clothes where she had been. Sophia cursed in surprise, jumping back and whirling for the door. I smashed that goddamn tesseract labyrinth into her stupid mask. There was a brilliant flash of light that lit up the entire room. Sophia screamed, and for a brief moment I saw her entire body fold in on itself like paper sucked through a vent.

As quickly as it happened, it was over. Shadow Stalker, Sophia, was gone, with only one of her crossbows laying on the floor. The tesseract was covered in frigid ice, and while it was cold and unpleasant, it didn't hurt my hand. Thank god for necrodermis I supposed.

The light turned back on, and I turned to see Emma slowly peeking around the corner. "Is… is it done? Is she gone?"

I peeled off my mask and held up the tesseract for her to see while grinning. "She's trapped in here. I'll be dropping her off at the PRT with video of your little encounter. You're free of her Emma, we all are."

Emma practically sprinted into the room and tackled me with a tight, tight hug, sobbing tears of joy. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" she cried, over and over again, tears rolling down her face as she sobbed and hiccuped. It was very ugly, and very human.  
I returned her hug, and had to suppress a few tears of my own. That was it, the biggest problems in my life, dealt with in a single day. I felt a warm sense of relief, of weight being lifted off my shoulders. It felt nice, her hug felt nice, -

Trazyn made a gagging sound, spoiling the moment _**again!**_

"Lets cut this short, please? Do remember that I can 'feel' all that you feel. Blasted organic impulses."

That was when I immediately remembered that, oh yeah, Emma was naked. My face flushed and I released her from my hug and slowly pushed her away from me. There was a slow rip that almost sounded like peeling plastic off a new tv, followed by a pop and a heavy thud against my chest. We both looked down to see that the breastplate I'd loaned her had readhered itself to me, and uh…

I looked up, red in the face. Emma folded her arms over her chest and started laughing through her tears, "O-oh my god this day is so _weird_!"

I turned around, scooped her clothes off the ground and threw them at her, "Put your clothes back on, you're not that kind of model." I told her, which only made her laugh harder, even as her face turned an even brighter shade of red.

That seemed like a good time to duck and run, but I stopped myself when I saw the crossbow on the ground. Without thinking, I scooped it up and took it over to my backpack in the closet, slipping it in along with my mask.

Trazyn materialized beside me, and spoke with a clear smile in his voice, "I never took you for the sentimental type, Taylor."

"That makes two of us," I muttered, and zipped up the backpack.

At that exact moment, there was the sound of the front door opening, followed by the familiar voice of Alan Barnes, Emma's father, announcing, "Emma, we're home early and we brought leftovers!"

We both shot up and exchanged a look, frozen in shock.

"I thought you said they'd be home late!" I hissed.

"I thought they would!" she replied.

Oh this would look very bad if he caught us as is. Emma ran to her door and almost slammed it shut, pausing only to shout, "Don't come in, I'm not decent!"

Also a technical truth, she hadn't had time to get dressed.

She then ran over, grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the window, "Come on, go!"

"Wait, what?" I hissed as she pushed me up to the window sill and flung them open. I grabbed at the edges to keep from being immediately pushed out the window.

"You're a cape, you do this stuff all the time!" she replied in a hushed whisper.

"I just started a few days ago, I haven't started jumping out of two story windows yet!" I tried stepping back inside, only for Alan to knock at the door.

"Everything okay sweety?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Emma yelled back, then whirled to me and said, "I'll bring your clothes back tomorrow, okay!?"

There wasn't really time to argue. I shouldered my backpack, took a deep breath, tried not to look down, and attempted to gracefully jump out her window and land in the grass yard below. I instead succeeded in slipping and crashing face first into the lawn with a thud and a flash of stars.

"Ow…" I moaned and rolled onto my back.

Emma peered out over her window sill at me, concern on her face. I reached up, felt my face and found all my teeth intact and no broken nose. Good enough. I gave her a thumbs up. She smiled in relief, waved silently goodbye, and disappeared inside. A small part of me was thankful her neighbors seemed to be asleep, or they would've seen all of that.

I rolled back onto my stomach and slowly stood up, ignoring the aches and pains in my body. Trazyn greeted me as I stood up and began limping toward the sidewalk. I idly slid the tesseract back into my backpack and pulled my mask back out and slid it onto my face. Without my normal clothes, walking around in costume without my mask was just asking for trouble.

Trazyn glanced at me and chuckled. I groaned, "What's so funny you stupid skeleton?"

"I'm simply enjoying my vacation, Taylor." he replied, then thought for a moment, "I've also given some thoughts to my earlier suggestion, and decided to collect a list of possible candidates, for tomorrow of course. You've had quite the adventure today."

I sighed, and looked over my shoulder at Emma's house. An adventure was one way of putting it. Like I said, I wasn't going to forgive Emma for what she had done, not immediately. But… well, maybe I was willing to start. Things would never be as they were, but maybe that was for the best. Neither of us were the same people we had been two years ago, for better or worse.

I turned back to Trazyn and smiled behind my mask, "I have a little energy left in me, give me the list and I can skim it on the way home."

He did so, and I opened it to the first page. I stopped in my tracks when I read it, turned to Trazyn and said, "No. No way, absolutely not."

**A/N: Sorry for no update over the past few days, I was house sitting for a family member and didn't have the time to post. I'm also sick as a dog at the moment, so after the next chapter goes up, it could be a while till the next update. You know how life can be. Moving on!  
**

**I bet you all thought it was going to end in fire and death, what kind of a hack do you think I am? You can guarantee this won't be the last we see of NotEvil!Emma, but what I'll do with her, I'm not entirely sure yet. Next up is an interlude, and then we start the next arc, when things start getting… fun.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, please let me know what you thought by leaving comments or criticism below, and I'll see you all next time!**


	7. Interlude 1-1

**Interlude 1.1**

_Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

Deputy Director Renick's night had been going so well: Brockton Bay had been relatively peaceful all day. Cape activity had been at a surprising low, to the point that he had managed to convince his superior to head home early. Any day where Director Emily Piggot put in less than a twelve hour day was a practically unheard of occurrence.

He respected the director as much as he was frustrated by her. She was a woman of strong conviction and at times remarkable self awareness. It was that same conviction, though, that made her so stubborn at times; it was not an uncommon occurrence where Renick had to all but threaten the director to take time off and undergo her required dialysis treatments. That wouldn't be a problem if she had been willing to use tinkertech replacements or gone to Panacea for healing. But of course, her disdain for parahumans was known only to those closest to her, and so every day was a struggle for him and all those that worked under her. Getting her to admit that she was tired and needed to retire early that day had been nothing short of a miracle.

So, go figure that less than an hour after she had, setbacks had started piling up.

First, Dauntless had to leave his shift early to go home and take care of his son. Flu season was still in affect and his boy had been sick since the previous week.

Second, Assault and Battery had been ambushed by several Empire capes and barely managed to escape with their lives. The only positive to emerge from that mess, was the destruction of one of Hookwolf's dog fighting rings in the process.

Third, Shadow Stalker had up and vanished without a trace about fifteen minutes ago; that was when her absence had been reported, camera feed showed she had left the PRT headquarters half an hour before the report.

Finally, to top it all off, the entire headquarters had been thrown into an emergency evacuation over a possible bomb threat sitting in their motorpool. Someone or something had set off every single vehicle alarm at once. When people had been dispatched to investigate, they found the motor pool empty, save for a single pitch black cube resting on the hood of an armored truck. Assuming the worst, the entire building had gone into a full evacuation while the bomb squad slowly dealt with the problem.

And that was how he found himself in Armsmaster's lab at 8:45 at night. After determining the cube was not a bomb, the cape had ordered it to his lab and was only just now examining the tinkertech device. Renick admittedly knew little about tinkertech aside from what everyone else knew about the physics defying tech, but he recognized it when he saw it.

The cube didn't match any aesthetic he'd seen from another tinker, which obviously pointed to a potential new cape in town. But a device that was so smoothly constructed suggested that whoever had built it was well funded. It's glossy black surfaces were mesmerizing to the eye, an abyss that called to him everytime he looked at it. It took a concentrated effort from the man to ignore the cube and focus on Armsmaster instead.

"We're certain it's safe?" he asked. Armsmaster had practically stolen the damn thing once the bomb squad had determined that it didn't _appear _to be a bomb. It was why Renick hadn't lifted the evacuation order yet, opting instead to have most of the building's workers transferred to the Rig in the bay instead while Armsmaster worked.

Clad in his blue and white powered armor from head to toe save for his exposed mouth and chin, Armsmaster was a towering giant of steel and iron that cut a very intimidating presence. As Renick hadn't gotten to know the man over the years, the intimidation had dropped, but his respect remained.

Armsmaster could best be described as an embodiment of efficiency, a man of few words and many actions who tried to waste as little time as humanly possible. This efficiency came at the cost of his social and personable skills, to the point that the average first impression of the man was that of a ferocious steel clad dick. Renick had learned better over the years, but it made the man hard to work with, even knowing this.

"With Tinkertech, nothing is ever certain," Armsmaster replied. They were behind thick blast proof glass that separated them physically from the cube. The danger room had been used to dismantle several dangerous tinkertech devices confiscated from other capes in past, and allowed Armsmaster to examine whatever he desired without having to worry as much about his own safety.

At the moment, he was manipulating the cube with a pair of robotic arms, while a dozen instruments that Renick couldn't possibly hope to understand, took various readings from the device.

Armsmaster's lips twitched into their typical frown. "What I can say, is that the device isn't emitting anything truly dangerous, aside from a slightly higher than average background radiation. To all outward appearances, it appears to be an ornate paperweight."

He handed a slip of paper to Renick. "But that doesn't explain this."

It was actually a post-it-note, with neat hand writing scrawled on it and read:

_Dear associated members of the Parahuman Response Team,_

_I have gifted to you,one tesseract labyrinth, within which is a secret that you very much do not want to become public. At exactly 8:50, it's purpose will be revealed to you. At 8:55, it will dispel it's contents. I trust that you'll handle things properly, as you clearly have in Brockton Bay. I will be keeping an eye on how you react to this._

_Don't mess it up._

_Sincerely,_

_A Concerned Citizen_

Renick lowered the note and looked up at the digital clock on the wall: 8:49 PM.

He exchanged a glance with Armsmaster, who nodded knowingly, "I've made preparations, and setup cameras. This could still be a trap though."

As he said the words, he released the controls and pressed a button on the panel. A warning klaxon sounded and a pair of heavy blast doors slid down and shut descended from the ceiling. They closed before the glass with a shuddering boom, and the alarm died. The 'tesseract labyrinth' was effectively sealed now and hopefully if it was a trap, they would be safe.

A screen was projected on the blast doors, showing the inside of the chamber, right on cue. The clock shifted to 8:50 and a glowing green screen of light materialized above the cube, similar to the one they were using to look inside. A figure was on screen, shrouded in shadows save for a pair of glowing green eyes.

_"Hello," _the figure said, in a voice that sounded both male and female. They had covered their tracks, which meant it was going to be hard to pin a name and face to the voice, which meant more headaches for Renick later. Joy.

_"You may be wondering who I am," _said the figure, "_ if that is the case, I am sorry to say that I have no intention of revealing myself. Yet. This may seem suspicious and untrustworthy, but know it is only because what I have to show you, is far more concerning. I have here, video footage of one of your wards engaging in… well, perhaps it is best if I show you instead."_

With that, the screen flickered and changed, replacing the shadowed figure with footage of one of those fancy suburban houses in the nice part of the city that Renick had been eyeing for a while. The camera was focused specifically on the second floor window, peering into a darkened bedroom. Even in that darkness Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker, was plain to see.

She was phasing through the bedroom door, appearing like a specter in her dark costume and ethereal form. The door did nothing to slow her down and her presence was palpable even in the video. Renick and Armsmaster exchanged another look; the cape's mouth was twisted into a harsh frown, even for him.

There was a small sound of terror, coming from the rooms other occupant that stepped into view. She was maybe sixteen or seventeen, with fiery red hair and dressed plainly. The girl took a step back, only to freeze when Shadow Stalker spoke. Her voice was chillingly calm, laced with a venom that made Renick shudder.

"No Emma, don't stand there. I might not be able to resist _throwing you out of it_."

She surged across the room in an instant and slammed into this Emma, pinning her against the wall and snarled, "Do you _really _think you can get away with that, you stupid idiot? That I would _let _you get away with it?"

Armsmaster's armor creaked and he folded his arms. Renick drew his lips tight and felt another headache coming on. He had always been nervous about Hess, the girl clearly had some issues, but he had assumed they were the typical issues most aspiring capes had. It was not a pleasant life, that of a cape. But no, this was entirely different, threatening an unarmed civilian required a level of justification that Renick doubted Sophia had. The legal clusterfuck that was going to erupt from this made his head ache in anticipation of what was to come.

And there was still more video to watch.

Emma whimpered and shrank; it was astounding how presence and confidence could make someone clearly so much larger than Sophia appear so small compared to her Sophia shook her hard and snarled, "You are _mine_ bitch. You can act brave all you want behind a computer screen, but you're a dog, and I own you. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high, if I tell you to shit, you ask what color. Do you understand me!?"

Emma was trembling, clearly on the edge of some sort of breakdown. Her next words surprised Renick though,"N-no."

Brave words against a cape. The average person was grossly outclassed even by the weakest parahuman, it took serious balls to stand up to an actively hostile one. Still, Sophia's words did not bode well in the slightest. Her actions in response certainly didn't.

She hit Emma with a balled fist sending her careening against the wall, and out of view of the camera Sophia let out a cruel laugh, "Oh my god, you gonna cry now baby? Is that it? Poor little white rich girl gonna cry to momma and dadda?"

Something happened off screen because Sophia jumped back with a surprised curse, and whirled to her rear. It was only then that Renick saw a figure in shadow lung at the, now former, Ward and smash something into her face. There was a brilliant flash of light, and the video ended.

The figure reappeared, glowing eyes narrowed, _"Incriminating is it not? There is much that your Ward has been up to behind your backs. I would recommend you handle this properly and justly; I'll be keeping an eye on this case, so I certainly hope you choose wisely in how you'll handle it. After all, it would be absolutely terrible if the general public found out about this, wouldn't it?"_

The video ended with a poignant snap, leaving the lab silent as the grave. The implications, no, the _threat _was clear in Renick's mind. This individual, whatever their identity, had a vested interest in seeing Sophia Hess taken down and would gladly do whatever it took to see it happen. If they didn't handle the situation right, he had no doubt that the PHO Forums would be abuzz with this video.

Renick folded his arms and looked back at Armsmaster, "Did we have any luck finding Ms. Hess after she vanished?"

Armsmaster shook his head, still frowning. He spoke in a disturbingly icy tone, "No, but this changes things. All search efforts will be redoubled; at bare minimum, she needs to be taken off the streets until we can verify the authenticity of this footage, and figure out who filmed it. At most, if its authentic, her probation is over."

At that, they were both in full agreement. With the tinker's and strangers and masters out there, it was hard to trust footage at point blank value, but at the very least Sophia needed to be brought in to be watched for her safety and the safety of others. If it did turn out to be true, Renick would be one of the first to show her the door. He didn't care much for villains, but the idea of one infiltrating the Protectorate angered him in a way he hadn't expected. It was a violation of their trust, a corruption of the ideals behind the Protectorate and PRT, and if the world found out, it's trust in them would falter.

The situation had to be handled quickly, and delicately. Renick reached for his phone as he spoke, "Do what you need to Armsmaster, then handle that… labyrinth. I still don't trust it, and would rather it not be here any longer than necessary. I'm going to make some calls and get the legal team moving."

Armsmaster opened his mouth to reply, when the viewscreen lit up in a flash of brilliant light that filled the lab. Renick covered his eyes until the light cleared and when he lowered his arm, he felt his mouth fall open.

Sophia Hess had materialized in the middle of the containment room, the device behind her visibly shattered into multiple pieces. She had only one crossbow drawn and was frantically waving it around. Her mask was cracked, but she seemed unharmed otherwise, if a bit hysterical.

"What the fuck is this Emma!? You bitch, what did you do to me!?" she screamed.

Armsmaster folded his arms, and took a deep breath before activating the rooms intercom and speaking into it. "Sophia Hess, it's good to see you're unharmed."

The girl froze and looked up at the nearest camera. Even behind her mask, her shock was apparent. "What... how!?"

"We're going to ask you remain where you are," Armsmaster continued, not bothering to answer her, "As we have a few questions you might be able to answer for us."

* * *

_Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

Danny Hebert had questions.

Why did the mayor's office keep screening his calls, where would he get the money to repair the city's ferry system, why did his hairline keep receding, etc. These were long term questions that had plagued the man for a very long time. Now, though, they were all at the back of his mind as a new series of questions had been presented to him.

What exactly was going on his daughter's life right now? Ever since the accident, they had grown distant from one another and Danny had found it hard to reconnect with her. She rarely talked about school, she and Emma had allegedly grown apart, and she spent most of her free time in her room locked away. That had all changed at the start of the week.

Sure, Taylor still spent most of her day in her room, but on Monday her mood had been… pleasant, almost happy. It had been a startling change even if Danny had been too tired to notice it at the time. Then Tuesday night she had left a note telling him she was off to visit Emma, though she'd been vague about why, and she had returned with a slight but noticeable limp, and that same cheery mood. To top it off, that morning she had been exceptionally active and had even made him breakfast before heading to class, a noticeable hop in her step as she had left home.

Of course, these signs translated to differences in her tone, and a change in her posture, details the average person wouldn't have picked up on. But even though they had grown apart, Danny was still her father and he could tell that something had changed Taylor's mood, seemingly for the better. Hence the question, what or who had done that? And better yet, how could Danny thank them?

This question was answered with another question at his lunch break when he received a call in his office from Alan Barnes. Emma's father was a good man (for a lawyer), and had helped Danny through a dark and painful part of his life. The memory of the accident still stung, but Danny knew that if it hadn't been for Alan, he never would've been able to pull himself out from that endless spiral of grief he'd been dragged into. He trusted Alan, and was more than happy when the man asked to meet him for lunch.

They didn't eat out, instead opting to meet at an old hangout - a place that they had made their own in an older section of the docks that only the homeless deigned to visit. It was a small, old office had been stripped bare on ledge overlooking a forgotten dock. Danny had converted it into a sort of home away from home for he and his friends years and years ago when the future hadn't looked so bleak.

The paint was still peeling like always when Danny pulled into the lot with his truck alongside Alan's 'incognito' car. In Brockton Bay, if you were well off, it always paid to own a car that didn't attract any attention from gangers. An old Toyota Camry in this case, from before Japan had nearly been sunk by Leviathan. Danny slapped a hand on the old girl's roof as he stepped out of his truck and headed inside.

The faded wooden door groaned on its hinges, making Danny wince. Inside was dust and pale light. It had been a while since he'd been here last and it was obvious his few friends in Brockton Bay hadn't bothered coming either. Cobwebs lined the corners of the wall, some of the lights had been stolen, and a few of the chairs were in less than stellar shape. The oversized table they used to play poker at was still there though, and Alan was sitting at it, hunched over a drink.

Danny frowned, "It's a bit early in the day for alcohol, isn't it?" he asked.

Without looking, Alan held up a can of cola and then set it back down, "Sorry, it was a long night last night, and it's been a longer day."

Danny slid into a chair across from him, ignoring its wobbling, and started unpacking his lunch. He looked Alan over and frowned; his friend had bags under his eyes, and his pale red hair was unkempt by his standards. He was dressed in a button up shirt and coat, but no tie, and a pair of slacks. Something was up, obviously.

"Rough case?"

Alan took a long draw from his drink and then set it down, "I wish. No it's a… personal matter I suppose, but it involves you, and Taylor."

And like that, Danny's mood turned sour. He folded his hands, his lunch forgotten, "What about me and Taylor?"

Alan rubbed his forehead, "Look, Danny, it's-"

"Alan, be blunt." Danny replied, "I can tell you're trying to avoid making me angry, just give it to me a straight, okay? I'll be less likely to get mad if you don't fall back to lawyer-speak and try to use kid gloves with me."

His friend sighed and nodded, before straightening up and adjusting his coat. "Last night, Zoe and I got home, Emma came up and… well, she confessed to things. A lot of things, Danny, some things I legally can't tell you about. There are… people, involved that definitely don't want it talked about, right now, though trust me, they'll be talking to you soon too."

Danny frowned and resisted the urge to look behind him, towards downtown where the PRT Headquarters was located. He trusted the local Protectorate, but the PRT was another matter entirely. They weren't against throwing their weight around when they needed, and sometimes they had a habit of throwing too hard without caring about who was hit.

"Okay, but can you at least give me an idea why?" he asked.

Alan nodded, and the story came out, about the bullying campaign, the isolation Emma had imposed on his daughter, all of it. With each word, Danny felt understanding dawn on him. Her withdrawn nature, the disinterest in the world around her, all of it suddenly made sense. Losing her mother had hurt Taylor, but losing Emma afterwards, having her best friend become her enemy…

Danny leaned forward, head in his hands and elbows on the table when Alan finished. "I… I don't understand. Why would Emma do this Alan?"

His friend swallowed, "I can't say. Legally, I can't say yet. All I can say is that it wasn't willing. That's why Emma confessed to me, she told me she wanted it all to stop and that she was tired of hurting people for no reason. And I figured, well…"

Alan shrugged and took another drink and then looked at his soda with disappointment before setting the empty can back on the table. In the pale filtered light, he looked years older than he actually was. Or maybe he was that old, and Danny just hadn't realized. Time was funny like that.

"You're my friend Danny. I watched what happened the last time someone in your family was… hurt. You needed to know about this, so we could figure out how to handle it."

Danny leaned back in his chair and let his arms fall to his side while his head lolled back, "God, it explains a lot Alan, really. It _means_ a lot you'd admit this to me, some people would try and hide this or even deny it."

Alan snorted, "Danny, I just said I'm your friend. You have any idea how big of an asshole I'd have to be to turn on you over this?"

Danny looked at him with one eye closed, "Well, you are a lawyer."

That earned him a laugh from Alan, the only lawyer he'd met to appreciate a lawyer joke. "Fair enough. Still, I wish I'd known sooner."

"There's only so much you can do with your kids once they reach a certain age." Danny admitted, letting some of his own exhaustion seep into his voice, "Best we can do is stand by and intervene when things escalate out of their control. Still, this at least explains why Taylor's been in such a good mood lately, and why she went to your house last night."

Alan blinked and sat up, "She did what?"

"Last night, she went to your house to see Emma."

Alan's eyebrows furrowed as he thought on this, before a light of realization dawned in his eyes and he pinched his nose, "God, kids."

Danny raised a brow, and Alan explained, "Last night when we got home, Emma was… flustered. Wouldn't let us in her room, and was… well, only wearing a robe when she finally did. I didn't think anything of it, teenagers and all, but…"

The two friends exchanged a look, and Danny rubbed his temples, "God, kids." he grunted in agreement.

Seemed he and his daughter were going to have another talk when she got home from school.

* * *

_Tuesday, January 11th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

"Dude, the rolls!"

"Fuck!"

Over the couch and into the kitchen, Leet sprinted in as smoke started pouring from the oven. He covered his mouth with his shirt and tried not to breathe in the smoke as he wrenched it open and pulled out a tray of now ruined pizza rolls and let it clatter on the kitchen counter. He cursed again and slapped his hand against the cabinet.

"How bad is it?" Uber asked from their living/gaming room. He was currently using both their controllers to play for him, and seemed to be winning, no surprise there. Leet was terrible at first person shooters anyway, that was definitely his friends domain.

Leet waved the smoke out of his face and said, "I dunno, how do you feel about eating charcoal?"

"...Fuck." Uber cursed, and Leet found no reason to disagree with his partner.

He let the tray cool and went to their fridge. He'd like to say that it was a highly modified piece of tinkertech that could instantly cool anything put inside of it, but that was a pipe dream; they didn't have the money or resources for something like that. It was a beater they'd found on the side of the street, but at least it worked… most of the time.

Opening it revealed, surprise surprise, that it was empty. They were able to get by on surprisingly little; Uber's power made cooking good meals a non-issue, but money had been tight lately. Streaming their 'crimes' had been surprisingly lucrative when they had started, but the money had started to dry up now and things were beginning to get desperate in that regard.

Admittedly, being a tinker meant that money was always going to be tight. New equipment, more space to build in, it was a constant drain. Their two story hideout had been surprisingly cheap, which was probably related to the lack of any real interior walls. Curtains worked fine, the electricity was good, and the place had running water. Upstairs had been great for setting up his workshop, and with a few modifications, they easily had the best wifi in the city, with a half dozen jury rigged consoles to boot. It had been a great place to start…

Five years ago.

Yes, Leet was sick and tired of their hideout and desperately wanted something new. But again, money was an issue. Leet sighed, closed the fridge and turned back to his friend, "So, how's the budget for food?"

Uber set the controllers down and looked over the couch at him, "We've got enough for one more run, then we need to do something for cash. We're bone dry."

Leet rubbed his face, "Right, think the gas station down the street will still be open?"

"ABB has been quiet lately, chances are 50/50."

A pair of white boys living in the exclusively asian gang territory wasn't exactly the smartest decision they had made, but it was part of why the building had been so cheap in the first place. Like many places in Brockton Bay, it had once been an office tied to the docks, and when that industry had dried up, the building had been abandoned. Even the ABB hadn't really put it to use, so they had gotten it for a steal. The obvious caveat being that there was a chance Lung could decide to burn them to the ground if he ever found out about them, but they'd kept under the radar so far…

"Right," Leet grabbed his wallet off the counter, "I'm going to get food, you keep up the good fight."

"Ten-four good buddy," Uber drawled.

Leet went for the door, but as he did, he hesitated. He wasn't quite sure why, a wind on his neck, a sense of deja vu, but he stopped and listened and… heard a faint voice on the other side of their industrial front door. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was definitely a woman's voice, and it was getting closer…

"...This is a bad idea. Terrible idea. Why would you even consider this?" the voice said.

Without thinking, Leet heaved on the door and opened it, his curiosity getting the better of his sense of self preservation.

A tall slender woman stood in the doorway, covered in a silvery bodysuit with a thick breastplate and expressionless metal mask with glowing green eyes. She was kind of pretty and had gorgeous hair, but that expressionless mask made his skin crawl.

She cocked her head to the side, and said, "Hel-"

Leet slammed the door shut and whirled to Uber, "Dude, dude, dude!"

"What, what, what?!" he replied.

"There is a _girl _at our front door!"

Uber looked at him like he was crazy, "Dude, how much smoke did you inhale?"

"I'm serious!" Leet hissed.

"Oh good, then that'll make things quick and easy." said a voice from behind him.

Leet screamed in a _totally_ manly manner, and scrambled away from the door. The woman stepped through it as though it weren't even there, and casually brushed herself off. He noticed now that she also seemed to be wearing a shoulder pad of some kind with a glowing green circle at the top.

Uber shot from his couch and grabbed the bat out from under the couch. The woman flinched and raised her hands defensively, "Truce, truce! I am not here to hurt anyone, I just want to talk!"

Leet exchanged a look with his friend, who only slightly lowered his bat, "Yeah, what about?"

She looked between Leet and Uber for a moment, obviously making sure they weren't going to attack her. If they even could, intangible hero's were a bitch and a half to deal with. After she seemed to confirm this, she relaxed and lowered her hands.

"I want to offer you guys employment."

Another exchanged look, "You want to…" Uber started, then shook his head, "You're serious right now? Why would you… how old even are you?"

Leet blinked at that but then realized that it was obvious. The woman, no, the girl, was a bit gangly, a little uneven in her proportions and held herself with the awkward posture that only a teenager could manage. He should know, it had been his default state of being for the longest time.

She straightened indignantly at the question and said, "Old enough. And the reason why is simple. Capes that stick together last longer, and I like the idea of not dying."

Leet scratched his head, "Okay, that makes sense, but… why us? You do know who we are, right?"

"Yes," the girl nodded, and rubbed her arm, nervously, "You're Uber and Leet, video game themed supervillains. Most of the cape community doesn't take you guys seriously."

"Gee thanks." Uber muttered.

"I'm just saying what everyone else is saying," she said. "But that's exactly why I'm here. Every other villain in this city are either mysterious criminal masterminds that are impossible to find, insane bigots, or terrifying dragons that are also bigots. You two barely count as villains, and most importantly, you're _loyal_."

Leet cocked his head, "Um, what?"

The girl sighed and shook her head, "I mean your… gimmick. You don't do that for success or fame, you do it because it's fun, right?"

They said nothing in response, though Leet silently agreed. The girl continued, "That means you're not ambitious backstabbers, you're not motivated by some twisted ideology, or even pushed past your morals just to survive. You do what you do for fun and outside a few… incidents, you don't actively hurt people. I need people like that."

Leet folded his arms and frowned, "You're a tinker, aren't you?"

She hesitated for a moment, looking at him with those unblinking eyes. Really it felt more like she was looking _through _him. He had to suppress another shudder, and said, "Tinker's don't last long by themselves, especially when they're starting out, but you…"

He gestured at her uniform, "Seem pretty decently well off."

That comment seemed to make her almost shrink in on herself, but she stopped at the last second and stood up straighter, "I am… a bit different than other tinkers I think. My, er… specialization? Gives me a lot of flexibility."

_Yeah, but there's always a caveat_ Leet thought bitterly. The number of failed inventions in his workshop was a testament to that fact.

The girl waved a hand and her shoulder pad detached itself and floated into the air, revealing half a dozen spindly legs and a small little head with a single glowing green 'eye'. It hummed through the air and settled itself on the kitchen counter, eyeing the charcoal rolls.

"That's Khepri," she explained, "He's a drone I made, and… well he's the basis for everything I can make. He has a molecular assembler and disassembler."

Leet choked and his eyes bulged. Uber cursed under his breath and almost dropped his bat. There had been a few very brief times where Leet had toyed with the idea of a molecular assembler, but he'd shelved the idea out of fear of what would happen if the device stopped working. And now he had a brand new cape, a kid basically, with an automated drone that apparently could do just that!

The little drone, Khepri, skittered up to a charcoal roll, and projected a beam of green energy. Before their eyes, the charcoal roll simply… dissolved into nothingness, as though it had never existed in the first place.

Uber whistled, "Damn kid. That's impressive, but… as impressive as it is, that's not really going to help you pay us, is it?"

Leet gawked at his friend, was he being serious?

But the girl seemed amused by that more than anything, "On the contrary, I think I can manage payment quite well."

She waved a hand, and the door slowly rattled open, letting in the cool night air. Two more of the drones flew in carrying a backpack that they dropped into her hands. With a grunt of effort she heaved it onto the kitchen counter and started shifting through its contents.  
A moment later, she turned around and dropped a solid bar of gold onto the kitchen table with a solid _'ker-thunk!'_ and folded her arms, radiating smugness. "I think that should suffice for a down payment, yes?"

Leet choked on his words and when Uber spoke, his voice came out in a strangled gasp, "I… um… well, what do you want us to call you, boss?"

She giggled and tapped a finger on her chin, "Hm, how about… Phaerakh?"

* * *

**A/N: Ah hah! Don't worry, I actually had U&L planned to be Taylor's minions basically from the start. Emma's subplot was literally spur of the moment, but these guys I had planned well in advance. Given who Taylor is working with, it felt rather fitting she'd have them as minions.**

**Next chapters go up in a few weeks, as with my cold and the holidays, its gonna take time for me to churn them out. I thank you in advance for your understanding and patience.**


	8. Hideaway 2-1

**Hideaway 2.1**

_Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

Trazyn's applause almost startled me out of my skin. The skeletal robot manifested behind Uber and Leet clapping his metal appendages together with earnest enthusiasm and that amused gleam in his glowing eyes. The sound of necrodermis smashing together was not a pleasant one, and I was grateful that my mask hid my discomfort at the noise.

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!" Trazyn laughed, "You're finally learning, Taylor, how magnificent! You have them eating out of your hands, seize the advantage!"

Yeah, that was easy for him to say, he wasn't actually here in person. My heart hadn't stopped drumming since I'd walked through their door, and even now it hammered against my ribs. A faint sense of warmth followed it, and I made an effort to ignore it. My every instinct was telling me just how bad an idea this was for several reasons.

Uber and Leet, even if they were considered complete jokes in the cape community, were still villains and criminals. They were older than me, obviously stronger than me, and they probably weren't as morally grounded as I was. Coming here had been a big risk, even with the tech I had available.

I hadn't been stupid of course, Khepri's swarm surrounded their hideout and I could summon them at a moments notice if I felt threatened by either of them. I had my phase bracelets permanently embedded in my costume, and I'd started adding padding along my stomach legs and arms to it over the night for extra protection. A few more scarabs were at home working on plating, but Trazyn had been insistent that we come here sooner rather than later. I wish I'd told him to go to hell and be patient, but for an ageless million year old robot skeleton, that virtue seemed only to apply to him when it suited him.

So I was here now, in a supervillain lair with no real weapons, and somehow I had convinced them that they wanted to work for me. That was hard enough to process, over everything else I've mentioned. Trazyns clapping didn't help. I glared at him until he stopped, and then realized that Leet had started to speak again.

"-but the problem is that, we can't exactly _buy _anything with bars of gold. That just attracts attention that we don't need." he was holding the bar of gold in one hand and dragging a pocket knife across it. I didn't blame him for being suspicious, I certainly would have been if I were in his situation.

I didn't need Trazyn to tell me that they needed to be assured they could trust me, though he told me anyway. I reached into my backpack and started pulling out items and dropping them onto the table. Bars of silver and platinum thudded against the table, handfuls of golden rings rolled free, a mountain of diamonds, rubies and emeralds rained onto its metal surface with a steady tap tap tap, finally followed by a neatly rolled wad of hundred dollar bills. The last was from my personal funds, everything I had saved over years of chores and odd jobs around the neighborhood. One step on my long list of plans was to establish a better cash flow either from selling jewelry and precious metals made by my scarabs, or by stealing it from the gangs. I still wasn't sure how I felt about the idea of stealing, even from other gangs, but that was a problem I'd solve when I got to it.

By the time I had finished setting everything out on their table, the duo's eyes were the size of saucers and Uber's bat hung loosely from his hands. I was again thankful for my mask, because otherwise I couldn't have hidden my grin.

With a sweep of my hand, I gestured at the arrangement of precious metals and gems, "Take your pick, wealth is no object. If you're going to work for me, I want to make sure that you're well taken care of."

Dad always said that workers that had a secure and fair income always worked harder than those without it. That it could secure their loyalty was an absolute plus.

Uber practically staggered forward and picked up one of the diamonds, eyeing it with what I think was religious ecstasy? It certainly looked like he was ready to start praying to a god of some kind.

He swallowed and spoke in a shaky voice, "O-okay. You've made your point Phaerakh. Bu-but, I think we both want to know… what exactly do you want us to do?"

Finally, the easy part. I looked around their home and said, "Let's take a seat, then we can discuss what it is I want from you two."

"Okay," Leet croaked.

We settled in their living room, the two of them on their couch while I took one of the recliners and resisted the urge to sink into it. I hoped to god that neither of them noticed how much I was shaking. Trazyn reappeared in the other recliner, casually leaning back as far as it would let him; it looked like a child's chair under him.

I sent a command to Khepri, and the scarab flew across the room and settled back on my shoulder while I set my bag on the table and continued sorting through it. While I did, I spoke to my future...employees? Minions? Mooks? I decided to stick with employees, minions and mooks sounded too much like what a supervillain would call them, and that was the last thing I wanted.

"So, first things first." I said. "If the two of you are going to work for me, it will be under new alias's. I will provide equipment for costumes and protection of course, but I want it to be clear that no one can know that I am associated with the two of you as Uber and Leet. No offense but your reputation is...um…"

I hesitated, but Leet just snorted, "You can say it, we're a joke to everyone. They know it, the PRT knows it, and we know don't do what we do without a little self awareness."

"And yet you continue to do it anyway," Trazyn mused quietly.

I smiled under my ask and tried not to laugh. "That said, when you're not working for me, you're more than welcome to continue your activities as Uber and Leet, so long as my technology isn't involved in your… antics."

At that I straightened up and fixed them both with a steady glare, "And, if you agree to work for me, we will have no repeat of certain instances. No Grand Theft Auto references, no more Halo reenactments, and absolutely no more Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball massacres."

The duo visibly shuddered at that, "No need to tell us twice, that whole thing was a mess from start to finish."

"Yeah," Uber agreed, "I didn't think it was possible for seagulls to get that angry, and I had no idea you could accidentally make a crater that big using sea urchins like that."

Leet covered his face and took a deep breath. When he pulled his hands away, he was wearing a tired smile, "So, if we continue our work, we'll be operating like how we used to, huh? Full on retro revisit? I think I can live with that, all things considered."

He very pointedly looked over his shoulder at the kitchen when he said that. It was amazing what a little bit of money could do when applied properly. I pulled what I was looking for from my backpack and set it on the livingroom table. It was a small metal disk barely bigger than the palm of my hand with a single glowing circle in the center.

I leaned back in the recliner and folded my hands in my lap, clenching them tightly in a futile attempt to stop the shaking. "I take it these terms are...acceptable?"

They exchanged a look, and Uber spoke for them, "Phaerakh, can I be blunt?"

"By all means."

Uber nodded, "You're offering to pay us millions in precious gems and metals, as a down payment. If you asked me to slap Alexandria in the face, I'd probably do it."

I frowned behind my mask, "A bit extreme, but I get your point. At the very least, its good to know I have your interest. With that said though, this isn't a done deal yet."

Leet paled, and looked nervously at his friend. Uber managed to avoid doing the same, but he definitely looked nervous. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Before I can accept you both as my newest employees, I need proof of your skill. An example of how competent you are when you're not pleasing an audience or hiding behind gimmicks…" I paused, steadying my nerves, before continuing, "Consider what I'm going to have you do as a test. If you pass it, then you'll receive my down payment, and we can resume business as usual."

"And if we don't?"

Um, shit. What would I do if they didn't? I hadn't exactly thought much farther than this, I had assumed they would tell me to take my offer and shove it, or for them to jump at the chance to make some extra cash. I blamed Trazyn for this, he'd pushed me to move way before I was ready; for an immortal robot skeleton, his patience was remarkably thin.

Despite my grievances, I glanced at the culprit in question, still reclining in his chair with his fingers steepled and contemplation in his glowing eyes. They swiveled over at me, and he let out a long suffering sigh, "If you expect me to guide you at every minor obstacle, Taylor, then you are sorely mistaken. These are your minions, how you handle them is ultimately up to you."

Asshole.

I focused on Uber and Leet again, and swallowed nervously. It was an effort to keep my voice steady (Again, I was thankful for the voice modulator in my mask) when I spoke, "Let's hope you don't, okay?"

Uber stiffened, Leet turned another shade paler, but somehow found his voice, "So, what is this test then?"

Oh thank god. I made a gesture with my hand, more for their sake than anything else, and willed the disk on the table to activate. A hologram, tinted a faint green, sprung into the air displaying a dilapidated warehouse.

"I am in need of a location to establish myself. A secret lair so to speak, where I can operate in peace. After scanning the various properties of the city, I have found three buildings that fit my needs. The only issue now is that I have no idea if any of the villains in the city are currently using them."

With a wave of my hand, the screen flickered through each warehouse, though they were all in such poor condition that it was hard to tell them apart. I continued to speak as the display cycled, "I need the two of you to investigate each property. You'll scout them for signs of gang or cape activity, but you will not engage, understand? Once you have scouted each property, you'll contact me at five o'clock, and inform me on what you found. I will plan our next move from there."

"That's it?" They both asked in unison, and I flinched internally.

It had seemed like a lot to ask for me, running into potentially gang affiliated territory and trying to spy on them was something I had on a list of 'bad ideas' before Trazyn had lodged himself in my consciousness. Go figure the hardened super villains would find it a bit tame.

"It's a simple test," I said, and quickly added, "But don't assume it's the only one. No one must know that they're being spied on, if the buildings are occupied. Stealth is of the utmost importance. How you accomplish this doesn't matter though, so long as you do it quietly, and don't hurt anyone in the process. I don't want any blood on my hands, even indirectly."

"Gotcha, that gets you way too much attention anyway." Uber agreed. Not quite the reasoning I was hoping for, but I'd accept it.

I leaned forward and rubbed my hands together, "Now, onto the details…"

* * *

_Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

All in all, life was good, I decided. After making sure that Uber and Leet could get in touch with me at our designated time, I'd returned home, giddy with a post adrenaline high. Not only had I survived an encounter with super villains, I actually had them interested in working for _me_! If someone had told me Monday morning that I would have two super villains working for me, I'd have told them they were crazy.

Which was rich, coming from the girl with a robot skeleton living in her head, but still.

After I got home, I wasn't idle. My drones were still hard at work building more armor plating for my costume, and at their current rate I'd have a full set completed by tomorrow morning. While they worked, I set the smaller drones to work on constructing more of the larger drones, and while they did that, I multi tasked.

By the day, my new computer was growing more powerful and more complex, and I'd gotten to work setting up a rudimentary AI. The details were… complicated, but it wasn't a self aware AI. It was more of an adaptive program that could carry out advanced tasks as I assigned them to it. I had no intention of creating a self aware AI, that was a level of responsibility I didn't want. But an AI to help me with my coding and cleaning up my designs and orders to the drones? That was fine. It would also, eventually, help me start cataloguing the capes in Brockton Bay, and figuring out where they were located and where the villains operated during the day out of costume. I made a mental note to exclude heroes from that list, when it was up and running.

I spent a good chunk of my day on that, and working out an important detail I had skipped over on the last few days. Weapons. I had been reluctant to head in that direction if only because Necron technology didn't seem to understand the concept of 'non lethal'. I had briefly toyed with the idea of a gun that fired tesseract labyrinths at people, but the energy cost would have been insane. So I browsed through the archives of weapons that were mind-bogglingly in their complexity, lethality, and over the top naming scheme. Evidently the idea of subtlety was entirely a human invention, if the archive's Trazyn shared were any indication.

After a few hours of that, I realized that I would need to improvise. This had actually been easier than I expected, when I came across a bit of Necron tech with surprising versatility. The Necrons used it as part of a long range weapon setup, and it was called a synaptic disintegrator. It was an absolutely horrifying weapon that basically liquified a person's nervous system. That was a hard no.

But, with proper modifications, I was able to integrate a weaker version of the disintegrator into a Necron phase blade. The phase blade worked like the talisman's I was integrating into my armor, but it was far more selective. A built in computer would phase the blade through any armor and allow the blade to hit the unprotected flesh beneath it. Again, I couldn't use a weapon like that and call myself a hero. But with my modification, the blade was replaced instead with a crackling energy field of eldritch green light that when passed through a human's body, would completely shut down conscious control of the body from the cut down. So if I passed it through a persons arm at the elbow, their forearm and hand wouldn't respond to their commands while their autonomic nervous system would function fine.

For the record, it took me five hours or hard work and an unintentional self test for me to get it to properly function. I won't lie, I grinned like a madwoman when I finally got it working and that emerald blade hissed to life from the hilt. It was only a little longer than a kitchen light, but internally I was giddy that I'd managed to build the equivalent of a lightsaber.

My excitement was interrupted when the house's front door opened and shut and I heard my dad's voice. "Taylor, I'm home! Are you here!?"

Shit!

I hurriedly ordered my drones into hiding and shoved the necrodermis plating and the synaptic blade (trademarked!) under my bed, before grabbing some sweats and pulling them over my costume. I'd been so eager to get to work I hadn't bothered changing when I got home!

A quick look at the HUD on my glasses told me it was a quarter to five. I'd have to be quick about dealing with dad before my meeting with Uber and Leet. Why was he home early, he never got home before six normally!

I rushed out of my room and stopped at the edge of the stairs to calm myself down. Then I descended and called out, "Yeah, I'm here dad! You're home early."

I emerged into the living room to see dad in the kitchen grabbing a cup of water. He smiled tiredly at me and set his drink on the counter, "Work was slow today. I'd like to say that's why, but it's not."

His face grew more serious, "We need to talk."

Oh… _shit!_

I gulped and leaned forward on the island, trying to act casually. "Talk, about what?"

Dad gave me a deadpan expression, "Taylor, I know about what's been happening now. Alan told me everything."

Alan? How had he…

My blood went cold and I prepared to swear bloody vengeance on Emma that bitch!

Dad's expression softened and he took my hand in his, "Taylor, why didn't you tell me about the bullying?"

All thought processes screamed to a halt and I froze. In the back of my mind, Trazyn cackled like a madman, which actually kickstarted my brain back into gear. Of course he found out, part of my deal with Emma was that she would tell everyone the truth after I dealt with Sophia. Go figure that Alan, one of dad's_ closest friends_, would tell him the moment he found out. Stupid, stupid!

"I… it…" I fought for the words, completely caught off guard by this. Finally I managed to squeak out, "How much do you know?"

Dad shrugged, "Alan only knows what Emma told him. I knew you too had grown distant, but I wish you had talked to me about this. We could've done something, and maybe… do you know about the blackmail that Emma was under?"

I nodded mutely, "Yeah. I found out a few days ago." There was no harm in telling half of the truth, at least.

That made dad nod, like he'd expected the answer, "So you know then that there might be a lot of legal issues coming up soon. Police might want to talk to us, it's going to get hectic the next few days."

Again, I hadn't considered that, and I kicked myself for it. I quickly glanced at my HUD again and saw I had ten minutes left. I had to hurry this along.

"I think I can handle it. I've let this build up for a while, and things are… different now, between Emma and me." which was also true, if exaggerated. At least I wasn't afraid of her anymore.

Dad quirked his eyebrow, "Things are… better? I hope?" his tone of voice was weird, but I chalked it up to inexperience. We hadn't had a talk like this since before mom passed away.

"That was why I went to her house last night," I explained, "We had a long talk about things, everything is settled. Honestly I think it went better than I expected it to." Again, technically the truth in a roundabout way.

"Hmm," dad murmured. He seemed to come to some sort of conclusion from that, and nodded sagely, "Alright then. I won't bother you too much about this, but Taylor, you never have to deal with something like that alone. I'm always here for you, you don't need to hide anything from me, okay?"

I couldn't hide the guilty expression that spread over my face. "I know dad," I lied, and took a step out of the kitchen.

"Can we talk more about this later? I've got homework to work on… and a police statement to prepare for, I guess."

At that, dad chuckled, "Whatever you do, don't make a donut joke. The cops donut mess around with those."

I groaned, and headed for the stairs, internally relieved that the conversation was over. Also annoyed, Trazyn hadn't stopped laughing the entire conversation, and seemed to be laughing even harder now.

As I stepped into my room and softly closed the door, I growled, "Can you shut up for a minute? I've got a call to take and I don't need you chattering in my ear."

Trazyn laughed again, "Haha! By all means my dear, talk away. Being audience to your actions is entertainment enough without my input."

I scowled and sat at my desk, and waited for the remaining five minutes to pass. It was a pleasant surprise when my HUD pinged with a message at five on the dot. I accepted the message and the duo's faces appeared in my HUD. All they would see on the communication device I left with them was a graining image of green and black, but I could see them perfectly.

"Gentlemen," I greeted with a grin. "I take it you have good news for me?"

Leet frowned and Uber flinched. Uh oh.

_"We have news, I wouldn't call it good. Or bad."_ Uber said.

I leaned forward in my chair, my grin quickly switching to a frown, "What kind of news is it, then?"

_"The complicated kind." _said Leet.

Uber took over, _"We scouted all three buildings. Each one is under someone elses control. The Empire uses the first as an ammo depot. We hit that, we can expect a cape response within a day or two. The second is an ABB safehouse currently filled with goons. No sign of Oni Lee, but I guarantee if we hit it, Lung would be pissed."_

I resisted the urge to curse and kicked my desk. Of course it couldn't be easy, of course the gangs would be shacked up in every empty building like the roach infestation they were. I was nowhere near ready to go toe to toe with any of the gangs in any serious capacity yet, I'd need more time. A lot more time if I didn't have the space I needed. I briefly toyed with the idea of setting up shop in the mountain range that surrounded the city, and discarded it. A drive that long would be tedious and there were too many risks of traffic to slow me down and raise questions from dad.

I sighed, "Okay, what about the third building?"

The two exchanged a look, _"This might actually be some good news. It is occupied, a lair for capes even. But!" Leet added quickly before I could interrupt, "They're not affiliated with any of the gangs. It's only three of them, tiny little group called the Undersiders. Just a bunch of kids really, they've been running small time jobs robbing from local stores mostly. Nothing crazy. Far as we know, they have no affiliation with the gangs, they're independents. Only reason no one has gone after them is because of how new they are and the fact that they haven't actually pissed anyone off yet."_

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully at that. A small time gang of supervillains was arguably more of a threat than the other two locations, but if they were independent, then all I'd need to worry about is taking them down in the first go. Once I had them down, the rest would come easy. Of course I could simply wait for the ABB safehouse to empty, but the idea of pissing off Lung in any capacity screamed bad idea. There were other buildings I could find as replacements too, but…

I glanced to my left to see Trazyn had materialized, watching me with a calm and seemingly indifferent expression. Maybe I was going crazy, but he definitely looked like he was getting easier to read. He looked calm, but somehow I knew that he was eager to see just what I would do.

A smirk pulled at my lips and I addressed Uber and Leet. "Tell me everything you know about the Undersiders. Because tonight, their base will belong to us."

* * *

**A/N: I am so sorry for the delay! Holidays came around, I got kicked with a cold so nasty I was nearly hospitalized, and then to top it off, the clutch in my car basically exploded. Its been a hectic few days and things only settled down recently. I had this chapter half finished when this all started so I was very annoyed during that whole time. But, it's here now! Editor still has to go over it, so expect an edited one in the coming days, but its here! **

**Fun fact, my original plan was just to have Taylor go after a bunch of Merchants instead. But then I decided, ya know what, lets go beat up the Undersiders instead, that sounds like fun! And here we are. Next chapter is going to be interesting, to say the least.**

**Speaking of, update on my updates. I've changed up my schedule in a way. Instead of always updating on Wednesday now, I am now alternating between my three main stories I'm writing: The Collector, Echoes of Yesterday, and Majin (If you're interested in them, check them out on my profile). I'll cycle through each one and update on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday basis. If I miss a day, expect the next chapter for the cycle to go up on the following day. So if The Collector is next in the cycle, and I miss a Monday update, the chapter will go up on Wednesday and so on and so forth. The only reason I'm updating now is because I'm impatient after all the insanity I've gone through. Hope the wait was worth it!**

**So, feel free to leave comments and criticism below and I'll see you guys next time! **


	9. Hideaway 2-2

**Hideaway 2.2**

_Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

"That could not have gone better if we tried guys, our boss is going to be _thrilled_." said Lisa. She shut the base door behind her and pulled her mask off with a satisfied sigh. After dropping off the haul for their hit tonight, she hoped their asshole of an employer might grant them some time to relax. Apparently, the PRT were a bit busy with internal affairs, and gang activity was ratcheting up. This meant that small scale heists were going to fly below the PRT's radar for a while, so their boss was driving them hard. Each job made her more and more nervous - there was such a thing as pressing their luck, even with powers.

Oh sure the Undersiders could easily steal from any small scale location in the city, but if they ever came up against an organized group that knew what to expect, they'd probably get their asses kicked. But then, what else would anyone expect when they tried using a bunch of mentally disturbed teenagers to do their dirty work?

"Whoopee." Alec drawled. Already he had claimed the couch in the common room and booted up one of the consoles. As per his usual, he got settled in for what was undoubtedly going to be a long night of cursing.

Lisa walked up behind him, arms folded and said, "If you're going to do that all night, wear the fucking headphones we bought. The rest of us actually like sleeping at a decent hour when we can."

"Yeah, sure, I'll get right on that." he said, pretending to be distracted.

Of course, the little shit was going to keep them all up again. Lisa sighed and went to the kitchen to grab a drink from the fridge, massaging her temples as she did. Her power had been hard at work all day, and there was a faint but steady pounding in her skull. A hot shower and curling up in bed sounded like heaven at the moment.

"Please tell me you're going to use those headphones." Brian said, coming down from the upstairs loft, dressed casually now, and glaring at the tv. "You know I have to be up early tomorrow, I need my sleep."

"Should have thought about that before taking a late night heist boss man." Alec snarked. "You have your relaxation time, I have mine."

From upstairs, Rachel yelled, "He better put on those fucking headphones!"

Lisa snorted and grinned as she took a sip. Alec cursed and reached for them, "Fine, fine. Bunch of babies…"

"And no raging either." Brian warned. "If I have to spend another night listening to you trash talking, I _will _throw you out of the window."

Alec ignored him, already absorbed into whatever game it was that he'd loaded up. Lisa didn't care, she didn't keep up with that industry. She was simply too busy to get involved in little distractions like that.

She sighed and set her drink down, and headed for the stairs, "I'll be in the shower if you need me. And by need me, I mean the building better be on fire, the boss is calling, or the PRT is banging down our door."

Brian stepped aside and raised a brow. "You gonna need anything? You've got that look again."

_Values you more than the others. Knows how useful you are. Wants to stay on your good side._

Lisa put on a fake smile, "I'm fine. Nothing a little time to myself won't fix."

He nodded his understanding and Lisa strode up the stairs. The hard part about a power that told her everyone's motivations was that it made it impossible to really care when someone offered even the slightest hint of decency. Everyone had a motive, everyone had some sort of angle they were working.

Still, there were advantages to knowing those kind of details; it meant she knew just the right strings to pull and buttons to press to keep people on her side. Honestly, tonight's heist and exchange suggested that this was working on _some _level. At least it didn't seem like they were all going to kill one another anymore.

"I'm not paid enough for this shit."

She could at least take solace in the fact that their rooms came with their own bathrooms. Lisa had seen the atrocity that was Alec's bathroom and wanted nothing to do with it. Her bathroom door shut silently behind her, and she began the painful process of removing her black and purple costume.

It was far more badass to say that the oversized yellow bruise along her ribs had come from some epic duel with an overzealous security guard. The truth was though, she had fallen from their escape mount and hit an air conditioning unit hard enough to dent it. Only luck and her suits padding had protected her from broken ribs; the bruise still sucked, though.

"Ow ow ow, fuck!" she hissed, and nearly doubled over. Now that she was out of sight of the others, she could afford to let some of her weakness show. She glared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Deep bags were starting to form under her green eyes, and her blonde hair was a mess. She could fix the latter, but the only way to fix the former was to get out of this fucking train wreck of a team.

Brian was dependable and professional; he could and did get the job done. But the other two… Alec had a useful power, but the little shit got off on being as obnoxious and apathetic to the others as possible. There was probably a cosmic irony to that, but Lisa didn't particularly care. Rachel on the other hand, could be as dependable as Brian… if one could earn her trust. From what Lisa could tell, that was going to take a long time. Longer than she had any intention of staying in Brockton Bay. So for now she just avoided the larger girl, and let Brian deal with her.

Lisa rubbed her temples again. "Fuck this shit, It's too late to put up with this crap."

Shower, sleep, plot the death and downfall of her boss in the morning. That sounded like a good plan, a satisfying plan. An evil grin spread over her face, and she readied herself for some well deserved R&R.

So she was caught completely off guard when she pulled back her shower curtain in time to see a towering metal woman step through the wall into the shower. There was a moment of stunned silence as Lisa looked up at the occupant. Then she slowly pulled the curtain closed, and backed towards the door without taking her eyes off of the shower.

Which was a shame, because if she had, she would've seen the metal shapes descending from the ceiling, and might have been able to keep them from pouncing on her. The weight of the impact sprawled her across the floor, and before Lisa could push herself back, she felt a sharp object pressed against the base of her neck.

"Not a sound," a heavily distorted voice ordered. The metal woman's voice obviously.

Lisa grunted, "For the record, most people try to buy me dinner before hopping into the shower with me."

Her attacker made a choking sound, and Lisa couldn't help but grin. Then she was fed an interesting bit of information from her power.

_Young, uncomfortable discussing sexual matters. Easily flustered._

Interesting, she could use that to her advantage, if only to buy time. She tried to look up at her attacker, but that was hard to do pinned to the floor. All she could make out was the metal boots they wore; she had to watch as they shifted and her attacker grabbed something from the wall and threw it over her.

"Put this on, and get up." the woman ordered.

Lisa grinned, and slowly did as she was ordered. She grabbed the edges of the robe and let it loosely hang from the crook of her arms as she stood up, "Okay, but I think I might be more… comfortable without it."

_Very flustered, incredibly annoyed, likely to attack you._

Wait, what?

The woman grabbed Lisa by the mouth and quickly but firmly shoved her against the wall, pinning her in place. Lisa beat at the woman's arm, but was surprised by the strength and durability of it.

_Enhanced strength, armor is bulletproof and shock resistant. _

Well fuck.

The woman wore a metal mask with a face printed onto it, with a pair of eldritch green eyes that stared at her unblinking. She held up her free hand to her lips in a gesture for silence.

"No more speaking. We know what you can do. What all of you can do. If you try to speak, you'll regret it."

_Will not kill you, or permanently harm you. Will temporarily harm you if necessary._

"Do you understand?" the woman demanded. Lisa nodded slowly, and the woman released her. "Good. Consider that insurance."

Lisa tried to open her mouth in response, only to find her mouth sealed shut with some sort of metallic tape slapped over it. Her attacker managed to convey smug superiority despite lacking facial features, and Lisa glared at her. The woman ignored it, tugged Lisa's robe into place, and pinned her wrists together, strapping a set of restraints around them.

While she did, a pair of large metallic scarabs crawled over Lisa's shoulders and down her body. She let out a muffled scream of terror, and her attacker sighed, "Stay still. They won't hurt you… as long as you don't move too much."

True to her word, the metal bugs made no move to hurt Lisa, instead applying more bindings to her legs. There was no way she was going to make a break for it now, though she doubted she'd have gotten far to begin with. This woman, whoever she was, had obviously planned this out; none of the others would have any idea what had happened here.

Her captor, now satisfied that Lisa was bound and secured, opened the bathroom door and pushed her out into the hall. "Downstairs, you'll join the others."

The others? What had she done to the others?As if on cue, the sound of barking and yelling came from Rachel's room, before it suddenly just… stopped. No final sound of defiance, or strangled gasp of death; just empty silence. Her power and own intuition offered several possibilities, and none of them were particularly appealing. Downstairs, she could hear Brian and Alec yelling in surprise, before they were just as quickly cut off, Brian first and then Alec.

_'What the fuck is happening!?' _Lisa thought, panic rising in the back of her mind. She had checked, rechecked, and then checked again to make sure no one was tailing them. There had been no sign of the gangs, or the PRT. The heist had been flawless, practically perfect! And yet, here they were, all of them taken out and captured within seconds. Honestly, if she wasn't terrified of what her captor would do with them, she'd be embarrassed by how easily they had overcome them.

She had to carefully navigate down the stairs, as her shackles made it hard to do much more than shuffle, but she managed. Once downstairs, she saw that the television had been ruined, the couch overturned, and Alec was plastered to the ceiling by PRT containment foam or some equivalent. Brian was hog tied on the floor with the similar metallic tape that was holding Lisa, but he was lucky enough to not have his mouth bound.

Most importantly, she saw two more people, dressed similarly if simpler to her captor. They both wore silvery skin tight armor, with simple padding along their chest and legs and basic metal masks that possessed the same eerie glowing eyes as their obvious leader. The larger, sturdier one, held a long crackling blade of energy in one hand, and the other rested on his belt along several canisters; that explained where the foam had come from. The smaller slimmer one held no obvious weapon, but she could see a faint glow along his gloves running up his arms, which were noticeably more armored than his larger compatriot. All of this was interesting, but it simply raised more questions of who the hell these people were and what the wanted.

When Brian saw Lisa, his eyes widened and he straightened up,"Tattletale! Are you okay?" he asked.

Lisa gave him a deadpan glare that practically screamed 'Do I look okay to you?'.

If he picked up on it, he didn't show it. Her captor brought her over to Brian and forced her down onto her knees. Then she turned to the two men and said, "I'm going to assume that you had no problem with the final member?"

Shorty held up a pitch black cube that pulsed with very faint green energy. "It worked like a charm, just like you said it would."

"Armor held up fine too," Muscles added. "And the synaptic disruptor is amazing."

"I still can't feel my legs, what the fuck is up with that, asshole?!" Alec demanded from the ceiling.

The woman turned to him, towards all of them, and was silent for a moment. She cocked her head to one side ever so slightly, and the optics on her mask flickered in some imitation of a blink.

_Debating with herself on the next best course of action. The other two defer to her. She lacks confidence in herself._

Which could be very useful, if Lisa wasn't literally bound and gagged at the moment. The woman finally spoke, her voice calm and level, each word clearly and obviously selected in advance. "Your time in this city is over. Your base belongs to the Dynasty now. We will turn you into the PRT, and they will decide your fate from there. Should you escape, do not come after us, you will regret it. This is not personal, but it is necessary for my plans; I am sorry that you were caught in my wake."

_Playing up her prowess and intellect. Improvising as she goes, has seemingly no knowledge of Coil or his plans._

Well that was obvious. If this woman knew about Coil's involvement in their affairs, she would've kept as far away as possible from their base. Instead, she might as well have signed her death warrant. Not that Lisa cared, she had far more pressing concerns, that Brian and  
Alec did a wonderful job putting their voices to.

"Wait, what!? No no, you can't do that!" Brain yelled. Alec started cursing at the woman, but she ignored him and focused solely on Brian.

"You are thieves, criminals that steal from others for yourself. Sending you to the PRT is a perfectly reasonable thing to do."

Brian's face paled, and Lisa knew why. Out of all of them, he was the only one with a truly genuinely personal stake in their work. Lisa was literally being held at gunpoint to provide her services, Rachel needed protection from the police, and Alec needed a basic income. Brian did what he did because he had a family he was trying to take care of. If he went to prison, he left them behind. Lisa didn't know much more than that, but it was enough.

She sighed internally; time to get to work again. Slowly, she leaned forward and rested her knuckles on the concrete floor, and started rhythmically tapping them against the floor. All eyes turned to her, and she did it again. Over and over she did it, while everyone else looked at her like she was nuts.

"That sounds like Morse Code, boss." Shorty noted.

The Boss looked at him, "What is she saying?"

"I'm a little rusty, but… I think she wants to parley?"

Lisa nodded, at least they were educated goons. The woman looked back at Lisa and folded her arms. With a wave of her finger, her gag vanished. "Tell me exactly what you want. If you try and manipulate any of us, the gag goes back on."

So be subtle, in other words.

Lisa grinned, "I wouldn't dream of- hmph!" and back on the gag went.

Muscles and Shorty snickered, and there was an obvious grin in the woman's voice, "I warned you, didn't I?"

She waved a hand and the gag removed itself. Lisa glowered at her, but decided not to push her luck. Time to get down to business.

"If you take us down, you'll basically be declaring war on our boss; and trust me, he is not a man you want to cross."

The woman turned to her subordinates, her posture stiff. They mirrored it and exchanged obvious, and nervous glances.

_Didn't know about Coil. Have no idea about Coil. Assumed you were common parahuman criminals working together._

"Yeah, we're not common crooks. We have an actual employer with vested interests in what we do." Lisa explained. Their captors turned back to them, the easy confidence gone from their postures.

Lisa kept her grin up as she spoke, "But, luckily for you, there's not exactly a lot of love between us. If you're willing to give us a better offer, we'd be more than willing to consider helping you."

"What are you doing?" Brian hissed.

"Moving us into a better position," Lisa hissed back.

When she turned back, the woman's face was very close to hers. Lisa yelped and awkwardly fell on her back. Alec broke out into laughter, and the mooks snickered. Her captor grabbed her by the robe and pulled her back up, bringing them face to face.

"Who is your employer?"

Lisa shrugged, "Eh, you might not even know him, but he goes by the name Coil."

Brian cursed under his breath. The mooks glanced at each other again, and Alec said, "Who?"

Lisa rolled her eyes and explained. "Coil has his hands in every pie in the city. If you've ever wondered why criminals keep breaking out or why the PRT and Protectorate are a bunch of incompetent jokes, Coil is probably the reason. The moment he finds out you tried stealing one of his pies, he'll come after you with everything at his disposal. All three of you will be gone before the end of the week. Unless you have some assistance, of course."

The woman straightened up and managed quite the glare in her mask. "What exactly could you do to help us, that I simply couldn't build? I know of your abilities: Regent can cause uncontrolled spasms in individuals, Grue can create pitch darkness, and Hellhound creates monstrous dogs to do her bidding. But you, Tattletale, are an enigma. A thinker of some kind, obviously, but no one knows the details."

Lisa shrugged casually, "Oh, nothing too big. My power fills in the gaps. I see how people walk, talk, and interact with others; I can pick up on all the little background details behind it. This works with objects too; there isn't a computer or safe in the world that I can't break."

The woman rubbed her chin, and stared at her thoughtfully. "Creating constructs that can imitate the abilities of your team is simple. They cannot offer me anything of value; but you, your ability could be useful. Say I take your offer, and we work together to take down your employer. Why would you turn on him, and what would you want from me?"

"He's an asshole who has a gun to my head." Lisa sneered. "Far as I'm concerned, getting rid of him would be payment enough. But, if you want my help, I do have one condition."

"You don't want me to turn your friends in to the police." her captor filled in the details without hesitation.

"Bingo!"

The woman (seriously, what was her name?) turned to Brian and Alec, "What would I need to offer you two, to prevent you from returning to a life of crime? Understand that there is quite literally nothing I cannot offer you."

She snapped her fingers and a scarab flew up to her outstretched hand, depositing several precious gems into it. "Money and wealth are the easiest, but if you want a mansion in the mountains, I can provide it. Anything short of dominion over the city; name it, and it's yours."

"Fuck it, I'll take the mansion." Alec said without hesitation. "I'm only in this gig for the cash. You give me a mansion with free delivery and wifi, and you'll never see me again."

Brian at least made a show of considering her offer, though her never took his eyes off the gems in her hands. Finally, he spoke up and said, "I just need steady income, that's all. I have a family to take care of, and I need money to do it. You give me that income, and as long as you're not asking me to kill anybody, I'll stay out of your hair."

The woman hesitated at that, and looked at Brian with renewed interest.

_Views the world in black and white; didn't expect this motivation. Thought Brian was attractive before, attraction is growing._

Lisa stifled a laugh, and cleared her throat. Her captor turned to her, and Lisa said, "So, what do you say? I can guarantee, by the way, that if you give Bitch, that's what we call Hellhound, the same offer you gave Alec, and can keep her off the grid, she'll agree to it. You help my teammates out, and I'm all yours."

"It is a… fair bargain." she admitted. "However, I have one final addition. This base, is mine to do with as I please. I shall leave your loft untouched for the moment, but everything else belongs to me now."

"Fuck it, take the damn thing." Lisa said. "A tinker like you could probably turn it into a goddamn fortress, do whatever it is you need, please."

"Then we have a deal." the woman waved her hand, and Lisa's bindings vanished.

The woman offered a hand to Lisa and pulled her to her feet. As she did, Lisa asked the obvious question, "So, partner, what do I call you and your motley crew?"

"I am Phaerakh." she said and gestured to her mooks, Shorty first and then Muscles. "That is Cryptek, and the other is Montu."

Phaerakh paused and then looked at Lisa, "I suppose we'll need a new cape persona for you as well, but that can be decided on at a later date. For now, welcome to the Dynasty, Tattletale."

She clasped Lisa's shoulder tight, and added in a quiet voice, "And if you think about turning on me, I can guarantee you'll regret it. Are we clear?"

Lisa's lips spread into a wide, vulpine grin. "Absolutely crystal."

* * *

**A/N: As promised, a new chapter on Friday night! Edited version goes up tomorrow, so don't be surprised if there are some grammar errors and a few awkward sentences. Welp, this was a fairly standard chapter, hope it wasn't too dull to anyone; I'm admittedly not a huge fan of the Undersiders aside from Taylor, so writing for them was... difficult. Not sure how much I'll use them aside from Lisa, but we'll see. I've had sudden flashes of brilliance with this story before, so maybe I'll figure out something useful for them to do. And for those curious about Taylor's eloquence here, she has Trazyn basically screaming in her ear on how to conduct herself in a situation like this. We'll see what he has to think about this in the next chapter.**

**Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed it, please leave your comments and criticisms below and I'll see you all next week!**


	10. Hideaway 2-3

**Hideaway 2.3**

_Wednesday, January 12th, 2011. Brockton Bay_

As the deal was struck, neither Phaerakh nor Tattletale were aware that they were being watched from miles away. Through the miracle of tinker technology, the entirety of the Undersiders' base was under constant surveillance. They were after all, a hefty investment, one that their employer would not discard hastily. It was for that reason that the two men assigned to the night watch had seen events unfold with increasing stress.

At first it seemed as if the night would unfold as it often did after the Undersiders completed another assignment. The money was collected, another gang was harassed, and as a neat bonus, they were about to get a nice show in the shower. Then everything had quickly, and rapidly gone downhill.

The ring leader, Phaerakh, had emerged from the wall like a living specter, casually restraining Tattletale and depriving her of the strength of her voice. At the same time, two more had emerged from the walls and made short work of the remaining powered teens. The larger one, Montu, had restrained Grue and Regent with a canister of containment foam. The smaller one, Cryptek, had thrown an odd cube-shaped device at Bitch, and she had vanished in a flash of light.

All of this was bad enough. It was obvious that they were dealing with a tinker who had had months if not years to plan this out in advance. Their technology was sleek to the eye and showed signs of professional craftsmanship. The sheer speed with which the entire operation went down suggested that, if Phaerakh was not a veteran, she was at the very least an intelligent and organized individual.

But then it got worse.

Now Tattletale was working _for _Phaerakh, and offering to give everything she knew about their employer to the tinker. The rest of the Undersiders were no longer assets to be relied upon, and an entire facility had been stolen out from under their noses in a matter of minutes. The only positive either of them could discern from their situation, was that the bugs were still in place. They could monitor and watch to their heart's content, and no one would be the wiser.

"Contact Coil, he needs to know about this." ordered the senior of the two men. Codenamed Watcher One and Watcher Two, there were protocols in place for scenarios like this. Once they got over their initial shock, Watcher Two would report it, Watcher One would take notes on everything that had happened, was happening and would happen. Intel, more than anything else, was absolute king today.

As Two contacted their employer, Watcher One observed the situation closely. The Undersiders were released one by one, Bitch the last of the four. It took some time for them to calm her down and to get her to listen to reason. Yet somehow, they managed it and she was more than content to turn with the others if it meant sanctuary for her dogs. Go figure.

Idly, One wondered if this would lead to them employing the Scorched Earth Contingency. If for whatever reason, the Undersiders had decided to turn on their employer, Coil had thought ahead with enough hidden and planted explosives to level the building ten times over. It was a single button press away, and this new problem would suddenly cease to _be _a problem.

Watcher Two returned, a grim expression on his face. Watcher One folded his hands in his lap, "Scorched Earth Protocol?"

"No," said Watcher Two, to his surprise. Two slid back into his chair and ran a hand over his face, "Coil says not to bother; Phaerakh disabled them."

Watcher One didn't bother to question how Coil knew that; over the years his employer had shown that whatever his ability was, it seemed to allow him the ability to pull seemingly random information out of thin air. If Coil believed the explosives were disabled, then they were as good as gone.

"For now," Two continued, "We're just to sit back and observe, and if necessary, report back to him. From the sounds of it, he's already preparing a response; by tomorrow this will all just be a bad dream."

"God I hope so," One said, and looked back at the screens. "It's gonna suck losing our free show though."

"Dude, internet. Seriously, leave your creepy fetish at the door." Two said, making no attempt to hide his disgust.

Before One could make a retort, there was a flash of green on one of the screens and the image went dead. The two men froze, staring at the now empty LCD monitor. They exchanged a slow, nervous glance.

Another flash of green shook them from their stupor, and two more cameras went dead. They sprang into action, frantically rewinding footage and working with the console to see what exactly had happened. With every second, there was another flash of green light and another camera went dead. The footage showed nothing, and they were receiving no signal at all, as if the entire device had been wiped from existence.

"No, no no!" Watcher One said, making no attempt to hide his horror as every camera went dead until a singular lone screen remained, showing the Undersiders still conversing with Phaerakh.

This did not last. The image shifted, something detaching the miniaturized camera from its mounting and sending it soaring through the air right towards Phaerakh. The woman paused as the camera moved to eye level, and turned her unblinking emerald gaze on it. Watcher One resisted the urge to shudder; it was as if she was staring through the screen _and _him.

_"Oh my," _she said, with genuine interest, _"What have you found for me, Khepri? A little spy, hidden out of sight?"_

She held out her hand and the image dropped into it, still focused on her face. One of the scarab drones floated into view, perching itself comfortably on her shoulder. Phaerakh's face was unreadable, but the smile was clear in her voice as she spoke.

_"Your move, snake."_

And then the image died, in a fizzle of static. Watcher One sank into his chair, hands on his head and expression one of dread. Whoever this was, whatever their goal, it was obvious that they were on the same playing field as Coil. The only question now, was who was going to win?

_Thursday, January 13th 2011. Brockton Bay_

"Behold! I am Phaerakh! Reality bends before my iron will, none stand before me, and… and this is really stupid. Trazyn, is this really necessary?" I asked, dropping my mask and looking away from my mirror at the Necron.

Trazyn watched me with that never-changing expression of apathetic malice plastered across his faceplate, but the exasperation was clear in his body language. Live with someone stuck in your head, and you start picking up on the little details.

"Completely necessary," he said.

I groaned, "But do we have to do it right now? I've spent all day being grilled by the cops about what happened with the trio. I'd like at least five minutes to myself, please."

"Time waits for no man, or woman, my dear. And as your time in particular is limited by the feeble weakness of your flesh, that is even more reason to continue onwards."

"No, no." I rubbed my temples. "Trazyn, this entire week has been _insane_. I've been working non-stop every hour of the day. I get it, we need equipment, we need to prepare. But I have equipment, I have an entire suit of alien battle armor, I have minions, I have a base of operations. I have enough resources at my disposal to put a lot of smaller teams to shame. I think I've earned at least a short break."

It could be argued exactly how successful I had been at all of those things, but the fact of the matter was I had been very busy over the past few days. There had been next to no time to plan, to prepare, or to unwind. It was one event to the next, constantly with Trazyn breathing down my neck, or providing snide commentary when I was actually busy. I had hoped that after my interview with the police, I'd have time to unwind. That had been an entire saga in of itself, trying to trick them and dad into believing I was still actively going to Winslow. Somehow I had managed to pull it off, even if I had looked like an idiot in the process. Couple that with how long it had dragged on, and it amazed me how close we were to evening. I needed time to decompress before I returned to my base.

Montu and Cryptek (I refused to refer to them as Uber and Leet when they were under my employ) were tasked with warning me if anything came up related to Coil or the Undersiders. So far we'd avoided that mess, but I had a sneaking suspicion that an attack or response was imminent. We had gotten lucky with finding those explosives and cameras, and doubly so when Tattletale and her team had offered to work for me or to disappear off the grid.

That didn't mean I trusted the Undersiders though. Maybe Tattletale was telling the truth about being held at gunpoint by Coil. Or maybe she was lying to me; my experience with pretty girls lying to me had left me reluctant to trust her. Again, Montu and Cryptek were keeping an eye on her, but if her power was anywhere near as powerful as she claimed it was, I wouldn't be surprised if she could twist at least one of them around her finger. A pretty face plus a silver tongue would be a dangerous combination. If it weren't for my own obligations at home, I never would have left the base in the first place.

So, needless to say, I felt I was under a lot of stress. Trazyn's impromptu lessons on how to properly behave as a 'phaerakh' did not help. While he seemed to enjoy hamming it up whenever the opportunity arose, I didn't. This of course, was an argument we'd been having now for about… thirty minutes, if my bedside clock was accurate.

I took my glasses off with a sigh, and rubbed the lenses with my shirt. When I put them back on, Trazyn was looming over me. Despite my best efforts, I flinched and nervously stepped back. It was hard to remember sometimes how large he was, given that he was just projecting himself in my mind's eye. But he towered head and shoulders over me with a width twice over to boot. If he were real, he probably could break me with a flick of his wrist. As if he read my thoughts, Trazyn's arm twitched.

I didn't flinch this time, and I steeled myself. My heart hammered as I glared up at my benefactor. "I thought you were above intimidation?" I asked.

He cocked his head to the side, and spoke in a chillingly calm tone, "Oh I am. This is no farcical attempt at menace, Taylor. This is a reminder to you that we have a bargain. To you, I provide all the wonders and technology of the Necron people to use as you so desire. In exchange, you would provide me with new additions to my collection. While you have certainly been entertaining, your capacity to fulfill your word has been very lacking. I felt it only appropriate to remind you that I am being _very _patient with you, and have tolerated a great many things. After all, new prizes shall come along, history is an ever growing tapestry; I can afford to be picky. But until you begin to honor your word, I would ask that you treat my advice with more respect, instead of this childish rebelliousness of yours. I have marched across the stars for _60 million years_. Consider, perhaps, that my advice may be of some use to you, whose lifespan can be measured as a literal blink in comparison to mine."

I swallowed, slowly, ignoring the nervous tingle running up and down my spine. Trazyn had a decent point, even if he was being a ferocious steel dick about it. But, I wasn't going to let him push me around either. This was my mind, my body; I had the final say in what did and did not happen. Of course, he had the final say on what I learned about Necron tech, so I couldn't exactly tell him to shove off either.

I'd have to be diplomatic.

"That's… fair. But, like you said, I'm not an immortal metal skeleton. I have limits, and if you keep pushing them, I'm going to break. I need time to recuperate. What use am I to you if I'm so tired I can't even think straight?"

There was that familiar amusement again. Trazyn strode away from me, chuckling softly, "Well, that is certainly a fair point of your own. May I offer a compromise then? Ten more minutes of practice, and then you may rest until it is time to convene your court."

He raised a hand before I could protest. "Additionally, allow me to explain _why _these lessons are important. If I may."

I sighed. "Any excuse for a monologue?"

"A monologue is a powerful thing my dear," Trazyn replied without hesitation; bastard had prepared one already, hadn't he?

"Understand that in the coming days, you will present to the world the image which may stick with you for the rest of your existence. The people of this planet will come to associate you with various ideas and preconceptions for better or worse. I wish to prepare you so that when this time comes, you can use these preconceptions to your advantage. If your enemies believe you to be, as you have so eloquently described, 'a pompous windbag in love with the sound of your own voice', do you think they will truly believe you to be a threat?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it, as I started thinking over what he said. Trazyn continued without so much as a pause. "Under my wing, Taylor, I can teach you the subtle art of what you humans call 'kayfabe'. Lies as reality. It is arguable that the entire setup of hero and villain is one colossal kayfabe waiting to come crashing down. Maybe, maybe not. But for your purposes, I can use it to teach you how to become something more."

He gestured at me, "As you stand, you are Taylor Hebert. A plain mortal thing with the likeness of a terran frog and an alien intelligence lodged in your brain." he casually ignored my withering glare and continued, "But, with my training, when you put on that mask, you become _Phaerakh_. A woman with the world at her fingertips and the freedom to do whatever she wants or _be _whoever she wants."

He leaned forward, "Now tell me, Taylor Hebert. Is there any _possible _advantage to mastering such an art?"

I stared at his unblinking eyes for several seconds, then looked away with a curse. "Dammit, I hate it when you're right."

The bus dropped me off about two blocks away from the base in the docks. It was as far as this route went and I was in a hurry. Not that there was anything urgent, but I needed to talk to another human being that didn't speak in monologues. Hell, I would've taken visiting Emma over sticking around any longer for Trazyn's lessons. Good point or no, it was hard for me not to blush whenever I started 'practicing'. No one would ever take me seriously ever again; which might have been the point, if Trazyn was to be believed, but I didn't enjoy it.

I shook my head clear and focused on my walk, slinging my backpack over my shoulder as I did. The Undersiders base, sorry, _my _base was located firmly in the middle of the docks, surrounded by plenty of empty warehouses and businesses that had died when shipping had dried up. Most of those probably would have been fine as bases too, but I had decided that if I was going to set up my own base, it would be at the expense of one of the gangs. Two birds, one stone. That I happened to take out a super villain team in the process was a serious plus, even if it did put me in a very seedy neighborhood.

Rule number one growing up, never go to the docks alone. Funny how easily I flagrantly ignored that rule now. But I wasn't worried, my scarabs were set in patrol mode within several blocks of the base, and I had my own personal patrol following me. If any gang bangers got any funny ideas, they would be in for a world of hurt.

I was about half a block from the base when I decided to duck into a nearby alley. I dug into my bag and pulled my mask out. After removing my glasses and safely stowing them away, I pressed it to my face and let the living metal I wore underneath my clothes react to it.

My vision was filled with alien runes and a faint green tinge as I fully connected to the quantum network that was rapidly expanding across the city. Status updates that I was already aware of quickly rolled over my HUD, before settling down.

Once that was done, I stripped off my clothes and shoved them into my bag, leaving me in my necrodermis body suit. I lifted my bag overhead, and a pair of scarabs took it away; they would hide it on a rooftop, and keep it safe from thieves or wild animals.

Several more scarabs descended from the sky with my armor plating in tow. A pair set down my boots and I stepped into them. They seamlessly sealed themselves against my feet, quiet as a whisper, and I started walking. Scarabs scrambled over me, attaching the plates with machine precision. With each attached plate, more of my systems came online.

The armor's primary purpose, aside from protection, was to increase my strength, speed, and control over the necrodermis. With the full suit attached, I could easily shift into my phase mode with but a thought, or remove parts of the living metal suit at will. I'd used the latter to bind Tattletale the previous night and I was relieved to find that Trazyn had told the truth. So long as living metal had time and a constant power supply, it could simply produce more of itself. Which meant that soon I wouldn't need to dedicate my scarabs to making more of the stuff, and could focus their efforts on other advances.

The Undersiders' base was a three story warehouse. Empty storage space on the bottom, living area on the second floor, and private rooms on the third. It had been furnished decently (or as nicely as an abandoned warehouse could be) in the upper two floors, but the storage space had interested me. Even as I approached, the telltale green glow of scarab's hard at work was clear in the windows. I was going to have to fix that too, otherwise everyone would know how to find the base eventually..

The fruit of their labor was clearly displayed in my HUD. Power was no longer the issue it had been. Generators were slowly rising, and they had completed the first one earlier this morning, and had started on the second. Keeping my scarabs powered, along with the armor for myself, Montu, and Cryptek, would no longer be an issue.

An old fire escape led up to the second floor of the building, and I hesitated at it. Not necessarily because I was afraid of interacting with others… well okay, I was nervous about that. But I was also nervous about how I was going to deal with them, especially Tattletale. If her power filled in the gaps of her knowledge, how much did she know about me, and how much more would she learn simply from us talking?

Only one way to find out, of course.

I steeled myself and began to slowly march myself up the stairs, wincing at the sound of my boots thudding against steel. Note to self, fix the stairs at… some point. I realized I was stalling, and forced myself to enter.

Inside, I was almost disappointed to find Montu and Cryptek talking with Tattletale. My amusement made up for it though. She was standing on the table, arms spread and an annoyed look on her face while Cryptek had been taking studious measurements. All three were frozen and staring at the door when I walked through. It took an effort of will not to check and see if I had messed up something on my costume.

I focused instead on Cryptek and asked, "What, Cryptek, are you doing?"

He stood up straight, "Just taking measurements, Phaerakh. Tattletale was wondering if we could make a new costume for her, figured I'd save you the trouble."

"A bullet proof skin level costume sounds tight." she said, grinning.

I glared at her silently, and she winced, "Or not tight. Whatever is less annoying."

I turned back to Cryptek. "My living metal alloy is adaptive, Cryptek. As long as it shares her relative proportions, the material will mold itself to her body much like it has yours." I added, with a note of amusement, "Make sure you have plenty of padding when you wear it, Tattletale, it leaves little to the imagination."

"Noted!" she chirped.

I didn't quite stalk to the kitchen island, but I did gesture for the three of them to follow me a bit impatiently. "Montu, anything to report while I was out?"

"It's been quiet." he said. "Undersiders have kept to themselves for the most part, barring one incident…"

"Incident?" I asked.

Cryptek glowered. "Regent is a cheating piece of shit, I had that win in the bag."

"I warned you." Tattletale sang.

I silenced them with a raised hand, and was thankful none of them could see my grin. It took a moment for me to make sure I wasn't going to start laughing before I told Cryptek, "Do be careful when interacting with the Undersiders, Cryptek. The last thing we need is for them to have a sudden shift in loyalty again and for you to be caught unprepared."

"Which brings us to you." I said, looking sternly at Tattletale.

She pointed at herself, an innocent look on her face, "Who, little ol'me? What did I do?"

I folded my arms and remained as serious as I could. God I hope she couldn't see how nervous I was with her power.

"Your loyalty is still in question Tattletale. Both Montu and Cryptek should _know better _than to be letting you walk on such a short leash." The duo at least had the decency to try and look sheepish when I called them out. I continued on, ignoring them, "You claim you're working for us now, but you wasted no time turning on your previous employer. What's to stop you from doing the same to us?"

Tattletale shrugged, "As long as you don't point a gun at my head or make unreasonable requests, I think we're golden. So far you're leagues better than my old boss, but that's not really much of a threshold to cross."

Right, okay, time to move the subject. I wasn't equipped to deal with her, not yet anyway. I had a feeling, a hunch really, that if this conversation continued, it would wind up making me look weaker than I was. Plus, after my conversation with Trazyn earlier that day, I wasn't in the mood for another verbal sparring match.

"Very well, perhaps there's an easy way for you to prove how trustworthy you are."

With a mental command, Khepri detached himself from my armor and landed on the table, folding his little legs under himself and going still. A moment later, a three dimensional representation of Brockton Bay appeared on the island, tinged green like everything else. Cryptek made a low noise in his throat and Tattletale whistled.

"Fancy."

I didn't bother to mention that I had just ripped the map from an online source and ran it through the appropriate Necron tech. Sometimes it was easier and better to take the lazy route - Trazyn certainly didn't object, though the metal bastard would probably call it something bombastic. Or condescending. Or both. Bastard.

"Coil is clever," I started. "He clearly has contingencies in place. This is a man who thinks three steps ahead for every one he takes. But, no one can account for every possibility. This is where you come in, Tattletale; if you know anything about Coil's operations, now is the time to share it."

I decided to keep the fact that I had a program already mining for potential locations a secret. If Tattletale told me what she truly knew, it would line up with what the program found. Or, alternatively, there would be more variables to add which would make finding Coil that much easier.

Unfortunately, before Tattletale could open her mouth, the map suddenly flickered and vanished. I felt my throat tighten, as a new screen appeared. Cryptek cocked his head to the side, "Well that's new."

"It's video feed from one of my canoptek scarabs." I explained. "Someone has entered our territory."

Said territory was only a few blocks across, but that was just the effective range my scarabs could reach, for now. According to them, a pair of plain white vans had rolled onto our turf. Though the windows were heavily tinted, my scarabs were still able to give me a general idea of what was inside the vans using short range scanners. Long story short, there were about two dozen heavily armored men and women driving right towards my base.

"Oh _shit_." Tattletale breathed. There was a genuine look of worry and fear on her face. If I hadn't found all those camera's the previous night, I might have thought that she had called in her boss. But, I knew better now, and had in fact expected a response.

Trazyn materialized beside me, chuckling, "This should be easy enough. The scarabs will make short work of these fools."

I resisted the urge to glare at Trazyn, leaning forward against the table on my hands. Trazyn was right of course, the scarabs would reduce these people to literal atoms if I let them. But, well, I wasn't exactly interested in _murdering _a dozen people; the idea alone made my stomach churn. I still wanted to be a hero, I was definitely going to be a hero, which meant I'd need to take a nonlethal approach.

But how to present that to these three (former) villains without making myself look weak? As I thought, Montu spoke up. "The scarabs will rip these guys apart if we have enough of them. You gonna give them the go-ahead boss?"

"Not...quite." I said, slowly.

Three sets of eyes turned towards me, surprised and curious. Tattletale in particular was watching me like a hungry fox. I ignored their looks and made a show of rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

"Killing these men is… easy. I would dare say it's insulting to suggest otherwise. Coil has issued a challenge to our actions from last night. I feel it's only fair to show him exactly who he is dealing with."

Before any of them could ask what I meant, I ordered the scarabs to action. Across several city blocks, hundreds of scarabs, some inches long and others well over a foot, sprang to life and swarmed through the streets. The first few hit the sides of the vans and latched on with their clawed legs, making one of the vans swerve in surprise. Those that followed purposefully avoided the windows, going instead for the wheels and doors. Even as they did, the first to arrive quickly began to devour the outer shells, burning holes into the cargo inside.

Tires screamed as both vans came to a halt and men poured out, firing on the scarabs as they did. I winced as several crashed to the ground, unresponsive The scarabs were built for construction, not combat, so it was no surprise how easily they went down. But I had plenty to spare, and even those that were shot out of the sky quickly began to reassemble themselves and return to action.

The vans were slowly reduced to scrap metal by a good half of my swarm, letting me direct the remaining scarabs towards the men themselves. They screamed in terror as my little metal minions mobbed them, covering them in their shiny metal bodies. Guns fell apart in their hands, and armor was quickly and easily ripped asunder. As quickly as it began, it was over.

And over two dozen men went sprinting out of territory wearing only expressions of terror. Even the hair on their heads and bodies had not been spared, and I'd even had the scarabs take a few layers of dead skin, leaving them all a stunning shade of bright pink.

Once they were outside of our territory, I made sure to dispatch a few of the smaller scarabs to tail them and turned my attention back to my stunned audience.

"I think that sends quite the message; wouldn't you agree?"

**A/N: I'm back~! So the only reason this chapter took so long was laziness. I knew how it was going to unfold weeks ago, but I just… couldn't summon the energy to write it out. I've been bouncing around with other stories to keep my writing going, but it felt good to return to this one. **

**I hope you all enjoyed it though, and please feel free to let me know what you thought via comments or criticism down below.**

**Oh, quick addendum, I'm shifting my schedule because trying to update three times a week is literal hell. So instead of updating Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I'm cutting out Wednesday and only updating on Mondays and Fridays. This goes into effect next week, so the possibility of a Friday update is… iffy. I won't promise anything, but keep an eye open nonetheless.**

**Otherwise, I'll see you guys next time!**


	11. Hideaway 2-4

**Hideaway 2.4**

_Thursday, January 13th 2011. Brockton Bay_

Well.

Shit.

Coil had prepared contingencies in case this tinker, Phaerakh, had prepared for his inevitable counter-strike. He had not, however, expected to be so thoroughly shut down, or so quickly. This complicated things.

A Tinker given time to themselves was a ticking time bomb, and the more time they were given, the more tricks they would have at their disposal. Under normal circumstances, Coil would have spent more time preparing a more thorough response, as was his usual operating standard. But the nature of Tinkers, as well as the capture of one of his most valuable assets had prodded him into taking a greater than usual risk.

Phaerakh's response was a brutal reminder why he didn't act in such a manner, and the cost was going to put a moderate dent in his reputation and check book. He could recover from this though, he would recover from this.

After all, while his attempt at retrieving Tattletale had failed in this timeline, he would call the events of that day a far greater success than what occurred in the parallel timeline he was running at the moment. With his ability to peer into alternate timelines, Coil had opted to try for two approaches to retaking his agent.

In his current timeline, he had opted for a precise but overwhelming force of his mercenaries, to put down the traitorous Undersiders, and either kill or capture Phaerakh and her forces, and retrieve Tattletale of course. In the other timeline, Coil had opted for something with less finesse.

He briefly peered into that timeline again, and confirmed that Brockton Bay was, in fact, still on fire.

With a thought, he collapsed that timeline, it was a lost cause. The damage Phaerakh's response had inflicted had been astounding in its speed and staggering in the sheer totality of the damage. The Endbringers, for all their might and power, had never been so utterly thorough in their destruction.

Obviously, Coil was going to need to handle this with greater subtlety.

His actions in both timelines had taught him several key things about his new enemy, knowledge that would be crucial to his victory. First, the power of Phaerakh's scarabs was terrifying, on a level beyond almost anything he'd seen from any other tinker. Second, Phaerakh herself either seemed oblivious to this, or kept such power on a tight leash; to be on the safe side, Coil would assume the latter unless new intel proved the former. Third and most importantly, Phaerakh seemed to react to personal physical attacks with far greater ferocity and escalation than she did to abstract attacks. Fourth, based on her general attitude and aesthetic, Coil could reasonably assume it was Phaerakh who had captured and delivered Shadow Stalker to the PRT; this suggested some level of trust in the organization. More testing would be needed to confirm that third one, but he could exploit the fourth.

He gathered these thoughts and analyzed them. Aware of it or not, Phaerakh took priority as the greatest threat to the city; not just to his own operations, but to everyone else as well. As long as she was allowed to operate freely, she would continue to be an uncalculated danger. This was something Coil would not stand for. The timeline he had closed could not come to pass, he had to ensure it.

He could, of course, always contact his benefactors. But their involvement could undo everything he had worked for in Brockton Bay. No, if Coil wanted to come out of this situation unscathed, he would handle this himself, as he always did. Which meant, it was time to get to work.

When he had launched his operation, Coil was watching from within one of his underground compounds hidden beneath Brockton Bay. Within the plain concrete walled interior of his personal office, he could monitor the actions of those that served under him with one of several monitors on the plain steel desk. One screen had gone dark, courtesy of Phaerakh's attack.

Another screen kept him updated on the current whereabouts of the Protectorate Capes within the city, as well as the last seen locations of every other parahuman both in and out of costume. A quick review of the screen showed Coil exactly what he wanted, and with a few quick calls, he was able to divert Armsmaster off his current route and send him straight into Phaerakh's newly claimed territory.

As he did this, Coil couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Phaerakh had shown some level of trust in the Protectorate, even a willingness to work with them. Under the right conditions, she might even be convinced to join them, it was always a possibility.

So, if the super villain Coil could not defeat Phaerakh, perhaps PRT officer Thomas Calvert could put her talents to more productive uses.

_**-C-**_

_Thursday, January 13th 2011. Phaerakh's Lair_

I made no effort to cover my face in annoyed disgust as my minions collapsed into childish laughter. My little display of sending Coils henchmen running home in their birthday suits had prompted Tattletale to start throwing out snide remarks at my method of attack.

She tugged at her suit, "So, are we the world's first mandatory nudist colony then? I wasn't sure what to expect when I joined up, but this was only in my top ten."

"Are you finished?" I was thankful for the mask, my face burned with embarrassment.

Tattletale grinned, "Wait, wait, I've got one more. If we're throwing a surprise birthday for Coil, do we need birthday suits too?"

"Eh, four out of ten." Montu wiggled his hand side to side.

"Fuck you, that was funny." the blonde shot back, never dropping her grin.

Beside me, Trazyn's metallic form shimmered into place and he leaned down next to me. "Not to be critical, but this is why I prefer simple disintegration if I am not collecting my enemies. It's a touch messier, but there's far less room for snide remarks."

I ignored him, again, and glared at Tattletale. A few seconds under the unmoving gaze of my mask was enough to twist her self-satisfied smile into a smirk. "Okay, I'm done."

"Good, then we can move on to more important matters." I said, and snapped my fingers. The video feed of Coil's fleeing mercenaries flickered and was replaced with the map of Brockton Bay, with several bright green dots slowly moving down the street.

My minions returned their attention to the map as I gestured at it and said, "My scarabs are going to follow Coil's men as far as they can manage. As of right now we are limited by range, and I'm not willing to sacrifice the defense grid to extend it. I will be sending a single drone outside of the grid to tail them, but there's a chance they might catch it and it won't make it back. If that happens, that is where you come in, Tattletale."

She pointed at herself curiously, and I nodded. "You know more about Coil's operations than I do. I'll want a full list of possible locations; we can work from there and start preparing our assault."

Cryptek raised a hand. I pointed at him and he asked, "How big are we talking here? Coil isn't a small fry like the Merchants. No one really knows much of anything about him, but everything I've heard ranges from 'shadowy PRT observer' to 'evil mastermind with a death grip on the city'. That's not exactly easy to deal with."

He was right of course, and I had discussed this to some degree in private with Trazyn, in between his lessons. I took those lessons into account and tried to show my approval at Crypteks line of questioning with a nod. Trazyn and dad both had made it clear that the people working under you appreciated being acknowledged and praised for their work.

"Your point is fair, Cryptek," I began. "And taking down Coil will be no mean feat. I will spare you the important details for now, but the current angle of attack is simple. Once we have an idea of Coil's operations, I plan to launch multiple simultaneous strikes. By the time we know where he is, our forces and technology will give us the edge we need to make up for our lack of numbers."

Tattletale leaned lazily on the map table, "Give a Tinker time to build, and they can move the world, or something like that."

"Essentially." I admitted. "Until that point though, it will be up to you, Montu, and you Cryptek, to maintain our territory lines in my absence. I have no plans to expand our current territory so long as Coil is around. We know little about what he has, and right now the other gangs either don't know we exist or don't care. I'd like to keep it that way, as opposed to risk a war on multiple fronts."

Coil was all about working in the shadows, and while my tech was leagues above his own, he had more men and women at his disposal and 'an entrenched network of intelligence' as Trazyn called it. If he was taken out of the picture first, then dealing with the rest of the gangs would be a cake walk by comparison.

Montu tapped his chin, still looking at the map as he spoke, "Then what's our next step, boss?"

Before I could open my mouth, the map flashed red and vanished again to be replaced with a video screen. I couldn't hide my annoyance as I snarled, "Oh, what now!?"

That annoyance turned into panic as the video feed focused on the intruder.

He was a tall and lean man, dressed in midnight blue powered armor, detailed with slashes of silver along the joints and seems. He wore a helmet and visor that only left his lower face exposed, which in turn wore a neatly trimmed beard. At the moment, the man was leaning over on a similarly styled and sleek motorcycle that was surprisingly silent as it rolled down the streets. I saw no sign of his signature weapon, but everyone present knew who this intruder was.

"Oh shit, oh fuck. That's Armsmaster!" Mortu hissed, stepping away from the map.

Tattletale looked bewildered, "What's he doing here, he doesn't patrol this part of the dock today!"

"Goddamnit, his tech looks so cool." Cryptek whined. He shrank when we all glared at him.

Trazyn leaned forward again and observed the armored cape, "So this is one of your so-called 'super heroes', hm? Honestly from the way you humans talk about them, I expected something a bit more… grand. Ah, well, either way he will certainly need to be dealt with. I recommend you take action sooner rather than later, _Phaerakh._" he put particular emphasis on my cape name, and I shook myself out of my surprise.

Armsmaster had been one of my heroes growing up, alongside Alexandria. Part of it was his aesthetic, part of it was his effectiveness and I'll admit part of it was homegrown bias. Armsmaster was Brockton Bay's big hero; like your sports team, you supported them even if they were terrible at their job. And even with the recent revelations of what the Protectorate had been up to with Sophia, I still had a hard time shaking that awe and surprise at seeing him.

Trazyn's words helped though, they were a reminder that under all that armor, Armsmaster was still a human being, and he could be dealt with. I brought myself back into focus and turned to Montu and Cryptek, addressing them as sternly as possibly.

"Both of you, head to this location immediately," I dismissed the video feed and brought the map back up, pinging the street for them.

"I want you both to intercept Armsmaster before he gets here-"

"Wait, you want us to fight Armsmaster, are you crazy!?" Cytpek yelped, a note of fear in his voice.

"Let me finish." I replied with a hiss, and he shrank down.

"You will intercept him, you will explain that we wish to parlay with him. I will explain the rest on the way, because _we don't have time to waste_!"

Both men froze for a split second, until I stabbed a finger at the door, "That means go!"

They were out the door in a flash, slamming it hard behind them. I sent several scarabs to tail them and turned to Tattletale. Her expression kept shifting from concern to curiosity as she looked at me.

"What are you planning?" she asked me.

"To deal with the situation at hand. Now shut up, sit down, and let me work." I ordered. There was going to be enough on my plate without her distracting me. If all went well, the next few minutes would go off without a hitch.

And if they didn't, well…

I tried not to think about that too hard, as I sprang into action.

_**-C-**_

_Thursday, January 13th 2011. The Docks_

Curiouser and curiouser.

That was the best way to explain the situation as it was evolving in Brockton Bay. It had all started when that anonymous donor had revealed Sophia Hess' illicit activities, using tinker tech Armsmaster had never seen before. Then, he had received a call that similar activity had been seen in the Docks. And finally, as Armsmaster had altered his course toward the alleged source, he passed twenty seven naked men and women sprinting down the street in the opposite direction of the disturbance.

They had scattered at the sight of him, and he had little time to hunt them down. He settled for filing the video feed into the 'unexpected developments' folder, and tagging one of the individuals with a tracker. The battery wouldn't last long on it, but it would give him a general search area to investigate later once he had identified the source of the disturbance.

He resumed down the roads at a cautious pace, careful to keep his motorcycle silent. The element of surprise was a crucial tool, especially if he was going to be dealing with a potential rogue Tinker. Yet as he turned another corner, what Armsmaster found instead was yet another curiosity to add to the growing pile.

Two men, one stocky and tall, the other short and thin, stood down the road, dressed in gleaming silver armor plating, lined with electric green. They wore full face masks sculpted into emotionless visages, and the larger rested his hand on an integrated belt lined with canisters. That wasn't the strange part.

The strange part was that the shorter man was holding up a cardboard sign with the sentence 'Armsmaster, in here for negotiations!' written on it in big bold letters by a sharpie, complete with an arrow pointing down the nearest alleyway.  
Armsmaster snapped a picture of the two with his helmet cam before parking a safe distance away. He activated his built in megaphone, ignored the brief scream of feedback, and addressed both men.

"Are you two the source of the disturbance?" he asked.

Both men looked at each other silently for a moment. Armsmaster's HUD lit up, analyzing both men with a list of notable features. First, they were clearly exchanging a quick conversation with one another. Two, their suits were emanating some sort of energy that he didn't recognize, confirming his tinkertech theory. And third, they had similar builds to known villain duo Uber and Leet. He wrote the last one off as coincidence, as those two weren't the most uniquely built individuals in the city. Besides, only a madman would have hired those two as minions.

Finally the shorter one turned to him and spoke to him with a similar, clearer, megaphone effect. "Our boss wants to speak with you. They think you'd appreciate a little privacy instead of doing it in the middle of the street."

Armsmaster raised a brow behind his visor. In general, the Docks weren't inhabited by very many people, and those that did call them home weren't often lucid. That said, if this potential tinker was open to negotiation and felt more comfortable in a more private setting, Armsmaster was more than happy to oblige them.

A quick press to the side of his helmet and he dispatched a pre-rendered message back to Headquarters before parking his bike and stepping off it. One of three hundred and thirty four pre-recorded messages, Armsmaster prepared them in case he couldn't afford to speak aloud for one reason or another. Now the PRT and Protectorate knew where he was, what he was doing, and had a limited time limit to wait before assuming things had gone sour. Ten minutes was what Armsmaster would afford these mysterious men and their employer.

"The Protectorate, and by extension me, are always open to peaceful negotiation." Armsmaster said. He clicked a button on his wrist and his halberd unfolded from the right side of his bike. There was no attempt to hide it as he retrieved it and approached the men.

He held it up clear for them to see and said, "I hope your boss understands that I don't intend on walking into unknown territory unarmed."

"No they expected that." The more muscular one said, before jerking his head down the alley.

Armsmaster resisted a frown. A rogue tinker with a modicum of self awareness was a rare thing indeed. Perhaps he could work with this better than he had anticipated. Normally rogue tinkers were notoriously stubborn and thick headed, terrified of the idea of their creative abilities being limited. Perhaps this one would be more open to joining the Protectorate.

He gave the man a nod, and entered the alley. It was as dingy as could be expected of your typical Dock alley, though it was notably devoid of trash and ruins. Armsmaster's HUD flickered through several different vision types and revealed nothing out of the ordinary, save again for that unfamiliar energy signature.

Its source quickly revealed itself when several constructs detached themselves from the wall and began gently floating through the air. Their general structure consisted of a large bulbous body lined with a set of three legs on either side, and a small head topped with a beady green light and a small under-slung flashlight. They bore a passing resemblance to scarab beetles.

Several of these scarab constructs rearranged themselves on either side of the alley, and let light flood from their heads. Armsmaster watched with curiosity as a holographic figure slowly took shape before him, tinted green just like the hologram from the tesseract labyrinth.

In a matter of seconds, a figure stood before him, her size clearly exaggerated as she nearly stood ten feet tall. They wore armor similar to her underlings, but of a higher quality and even more ornate. The electric green that had seeped from their masked eyes seemed to radiate from every seam of their body, and her mask though expressionless bore an air of regality to it. Their figure was androgynous, impossible to tell if it was male or female. Only the long curly hair that fell from their head gave Armsmaster a clue that they might be a woman.

Then they spoke and eliminated all doubt. _"Greetings, Armsmaster."_ the woman swept her arm forward and bowed in an exaggerated manner, her voice booming with electric modification, like her minions.

Said minions had walked forward to stand on either side of her and were silently watching him. Armsmaster had his HUD watch them both for sudden movement and focused on the woman standing before him.

"Hello." he replied.

She rose up and cocked her head to the side, _"A visit from the most esteemed hero of the Protectorate is always appreciated, though I feel I must ask, why are you here?"_

Armsmaster thought on the best way to answer this as diplomatically as possible without offending her. Even he could see that this woman had quite the ego on her, so he'd have to be careful with what he said. If he bungled this up, the Director and Dragon would never let him live it down.

"I received a report of a disturbance in this area, possible tinker in origin. Since I was the nearest member of the Protectorate, I was dispatched to see if there was any truth to it." he gestured at her, "I think it's safe to say that there was."

The woman held a hand to her unmoving mouth and laughed, _"Oh, I do apologize, Armsmaster. You see, I have just recently established myself, and there are… elements in the city that have taken exception to that. You may have seen evidence of our brief scuttle on your way here, in fact."_

Armsmaster thought back to the men and women and nodded, "So that was you?"

_"Correct. I had no interest in hurting them, but I felt it appropriate to make it clear that I will not tolerate attempted violence to myself or my court." _she said.

Armsmaster mentally upped the tinker from 'ego' to 'colossal ego'. A cape with a delusion of royalty was far from unheard of. Hopefully, he could prevent this one from devolving into a Marquis situation.

He also noted that the woman had likely edged into Coil's turf. The enigmatic villain rarely made public moves, but the nature of the attack from what he could tell, fit his MO. The ABB and Empire preferred far grander displays of power when dealing with capes, and as far as Armsmaster or the Protectorate knew, Coil was operating solo with normal men and women in his employ.

The fact that this rogue tinker might have unknowingly made an enemy of him meant he could use that to convince her to join. Again, he'd need to be delicate though.

"You handled it well then," he said. "And we at the Protectorate appreciate you not escalating the situation."

The woman held a hand to her chest in mock horror, _"Escalating the situation? My dear Armsmaster, perish the thought. I wish only to pacify and imprison those who would do our fair city harm. It is something we share in common after all, my court and your Protectorate. Speaking of, I hope that my… anonymous tip has been taken into consideration?"_

"We're handling it." Armsmaster said, and turned the conversation back to her. "That said, you might want to consider how others look at your actions. An anonymous black box in the middle of a parking lot is easy to mistake for a bomb threat."

_"It was never my intention to threaten anyone." _the woman insisted. _"Only to enlighten you to the situation."_

"Yeah, I bet." Armsmaster muttered before saying louder, "Be that as it may, that's not relevant. Do you have a name I can call you by, miss? If only for clarity sake, you understand."

She raised both her hands to the sky, _"I am Phaerakh, and before you are the attendees of my court. Together, we are the Dynasty."_

Armsmaster filed that away, "Phaerakh...Dynasty… Alright, noted. Do you mind if I ask how long you've been operating, Phaerakh? Your technology is impressive for someone operating outside the influence of the gangs or the Protectorate."

_"Hehe, long enough, Armsmaster." _she said teasingly.

He frowned, but wasn't too surprised. "Well, do you mind answering a few questions then?"

_"I just did, didn't I?" _she asked, before adding, _"I kid. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have. Within reason, of course."_

"Appreciated." Armsmaster said.

He spent the next few minutes drilling Phaerakh for every bit of information he could. The nature of her tinker specialization, her goals in Brockton Bay, how she had dispatched of the men that had attacked her. Her answers for most were vague, though her description of the attack confirmed his suspicions that it was Coil.

He voiced his suspicions to her, "You are aware that you may have made an enemy of Coil with your actions, right?"

She waved a dismissive hand, _"Yes, yes. I am well aware of Coil and what he represents."_

There was that ego again.

"Right," Armsmaster said, "I suppose you can handle yourself. But, I urge you to reconsider your current position. The Protectorate may impose restrictions on you, but if you join us you'll find yourself in a far safer situation than if you operate as your own independent power in the city. The gangs don't take kindly to independent capes, let alone tinkers."

Phaerakh folded her arms, and her mood seemed to shift, _"I'm aware of my situation Armsmaster, but your concern is appreciated. Alas, I cannot find it in me to bring myself under the yoke of the Protectorate. I, Phaerakh, do not serve the will of others. I am, however, willing to work with you. As I have said, our goals are mutually beneficial." _

"Be that as it may," Armsmaster said, pulling a business card from his utility belt, "I strongly urge you to reconsider. I've seen too many tinkers be taken advantage of or killed by the gangs, and it would be a shame to see you join them."

He handed the card to Phaerakh's taller minion and said, "If you change your mind, our contact information is on that card. Your… court... will be welcomed as well, of course."

Phaerakh rubbed her chin thoughtfully, _"Thank you, Armsmaster. I shall consider your… urging. Is there anything else I may do for you? I'm sure you can understand, I am quite busy."_

Armsmaster looked at her, and then her minions. He wanted to meet the woman face to face, to learn the details of her technology. He had a burning itch at the back of his skull screaming for a look inside her scarab constructs. But, he had a feeling he had done all that he could today. She might be what the analysts back at headquarters called 'a slow burn' recruit. He would have to be satisfied with what he had for the moment.

"I have nothing else for you today, Phaerakh." he said. "Hopefully, we can meet face to face another day."

_"Likewise, Armsmaster." _She bowed her head, and then with a flash of light, her figure vanished from sight.

Her minions turned and made their way down the opposite end of the alley. Armsmaster spared a minute to watch them go before slowly returning to his bike. As he knocked the kickstand back into place, he felt a bit of pride. That had gone remarkably well, all things considering.

_**-C-**_

_Thursday, January 13th 2011. Phaerakh's Lair_

Oh god I needed a drink.

That was my first thought when I cut the hologram and collapsed against the table, only barely catching myself at the last second. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to see Tattletale supporting me.

"Thank you."

She nodded silently, still wearing a ghost of a smile. I let her have it, I was drained. All that pontificating and dramatic nonsense, it was way beyond what I was used to. That it had all been directed at one of my idols just added to the weight hanging from my limbs. It was hard to wrap my head around what just happened, honestly.

After a moment to gather my bearings, I stood up and smoothed my hair back. A few deep breaths and I felt something resembling normalcy return to me. First an attack by Coil, then Armsmaster himself showing up. I honestly wouldn't have been surprised if one of the Endbringers suddenly landed on top of my base at this rate.

"Soooo…" Tattletale drawled. "Should I give you a minute, or are you done fangirling over Armsmaster?"

I shot her a glare and she grinned, "Just sayin'. I half expected you to start squealing once he appeared on screen."

"Don't you have a list to write?" I demanded of her.

She leaned on the table, resting her head on both hands and smiled, "Maybe. But this is more entertaining."

Trazyn laughed in my head, _"I like this human. Her smug aura amuses me."_

I mentally snarled at him, and jabbed a finger at Tattletale before pointing toward the stairs. "List. Now. I have projects to attend to downstairs, if you haven't started that list by the time I get back upstairs, I am dropping your smart ass on Coils front door."

"Okay, okay." She laughed and started for the stairs.

"I'll get to work, but only cause you asked nicely, _your majesty_."

I resisted the urge to stomp my feet as I left the second floor and made my way downstairs to the first floor. Tattletale was getting way too chummy. I had to remember that she had worked for Coil before and that there was still a chance that she had some lingering loyalty to him. I also wasn't in the mood for 'making friends'. Much as I hated to admit it, everything that had happened with Emma opened some old wounds that I wished had stayed buried. It took an effort of will to shove those thoughts from my head as I emerged into the first floor and bore witness to my works.

The majority of my scarabs were setup in a detection network within several blocks of my base; they would keep an eye out for anyone entering my territory that shouldn't be. Those that were not out in the network however, were here, building the infrastructure I would need to really take the fight to the villains in Brockton Bay. The generators bore a striking resemblance to the much smaller ones back home, large hollow cylinders made of a material so dark it seemed to absorb light. Once they were activated, they would crackle with an eerie green glow, just like everything else I made.

I set a few of my scarabs to watch the stairs in case anyone came down looking for me, and removed my mask. There was no way I was going to let my hired help see me without it yet, I just didn't trust them enough for it. As nice as the mask was, after the day I'd been having, I need some privacy and fresh air. I couldn't manage the latter since Montu and Cryptek were due back any minute, but I could manage the former.

Trazyn materialized alongside me as I leaned against an unfinished generator. I eyed him warily as I slipped my glasses back on, "So what's the smug comment for today, Trazyn?"

He looked offended at that, "Not _everything_ I say is a running commentary on your antics, Taylor."

"Could've fooled me." I huffed and rubbed at my temples. "God, this is so much more exhausting than I thought it would be. How is a _conversation_ the most stressful part of my day?"

"The chains of politics I am afraid. None are resistant to their weight, no matter their efforts." the necron sighed.

My blood went cold when he cheerfully straightened up. Happy Trazyn often lead to an unhappy Taylor, in my experience.

He rolled his head in an imitation of me rolling my eyes, "Oh come now, have _some _faith in me my dear. I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise." I said dryly, "For me. From you?"

"Yes, yes. As hard as it may be to believe, I am capable of the occasional bout of kindness. Its a madness that comes with age I'm afraid." he said, even as he walked between a pair of generators.

Obviously he didn't actually do that given that his physical form was just a figment of my mind's eye, but I got the idea and 'followed' him. He led me down between the generators to something I didn't remember commissioning.

There were a pair of black stone pedestals, lined with glowing green energy, under a soft light. Trazyn stood at their side and presented them with a sweep of his arm. "I thought that, considering your slowly growing success, you may appreciate a 'timeline' of your victories so far."

I glanced at him as I approached the pedestals. On the larger of the two, a hand held crossbow slowly rotated in the air, catching the light along its metal components. I immediately recognized it as Sophia's crossbow from the night I'd trapped her in the tesseract labyrinth.

Again I looked at Trazyn, "It's a… trophy?"

He waved his hand in a rolling motion as he spoke, "Trophy, memento, collectible. Call it what you like, it's a piece of history, of _your _history. Though I have given you the means, it was your thought process and action that earned you your victories."

I looked at the other pedestal and saw the shattered remains of a steering wheel, parts of it simply sheared off. It was obviously from one of the vans Coils mercenaries had been driving, now proudly on display as well. I won't deny it, I was touched by the gesture, and felt a bit of wetness in my eyes.

"We can, of course, create another for your success with the Armsmaster." Trazyn assured me.

"It's just Armsmaster," I corrected, looking at the pedestals with wide eyes, and added, "But we're missing one. Nothing for me taking over the Undersiders base?"

"Well, I figured that was what the Tattletale was for. She is quite the trophy, filled with amusing quips and intelligence." Trazyn said.

I shot him a glare, "Humans don't count as trophies, Trazyn."

"That is categorically false!" he insisted as I turned around and left the little shrine of trophies behind. "Humans can in fact be trophies, you even have a word for it!"

"Tattletale is not a trophy wife." I sighed, "And I can't believe I'm even having this conversation with you-"

The sound of metal bouncing off metal interrupted me. I whirled toward the source, and felt my blood go cold. A loose bolt had come tumbling down the stairs, knocked over courtesy of one blonde haired Tattletale. Who was currently looking at me like I was completely and utterly insane.

I immediately replaced my mask and said, "W-what are you doing down here!? I thought I made it clear I wanted to be alone!"

She raised her hands defensively and stumbled back on the stairs as I stormed towards her, "Curiosity gets the better of e-everyone, but if it makes you feel better, I totally didn't see you arguing with your imaginary friend!"

This wasn't what I needed, this was the last thing I needed. I'd had scarabs set up specifically to prevent this from happening. Thinker or not, there was no way she could have gotten past them without me being alerted, unless I had missed a detail, or…

"Taylor, please don't kill the poor thing. It's only in her nature to stick her nose where it doesn't belong." Trazyn said, his voice echoing through the building.

Tattletale whipped her head around, eyes wide with shock, "Who… what?"

I stopped in my tracks, and rubbed my temples again, "God… god damnit Trazyn."

One of my scarabs detached itself from the ceiling and floated down in front of Tattletale, projecting a full scale replica of my mind's eye image of Trazyn. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates as the skeletal machine towered over her, staff glowing ominously in hand.

Then he bowed and said in as courteous a tone as he could manage, "I apologize for the confusion, Miss Tattletale. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Trazyn the Infinite, Grand Archeovist, Lord of Solemance, and young Phaerakh's patron and mentor. It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face."

* * *

**A/N: I LIVE! So context time. I have rewritten this chapter... at least five or six different times. This is one of the main reasons it took so long for me to get it out. Along with the whole pseudo apocalypse going on right now, these constant rewrites killed my enthusiasm for writing. I think in general I hit a bit of writer's block for all of my stories. But I finally persevered and managed to finish the next (hopefully good) chapter! I hope to update a bit more frequently now, but I make no promises as we all know by now that such promises are meaningless. But my _plan_ is to finish this arc and the following interlude before I consider working on one of my other stories. This may in general be my writing plan from here on out, as swapping between stories every chapter just leaves my head spinning.**

**That all aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. My editor is being mysterious and unavailable so expect a edited post up again in the next day or so. Otherwise, leave your thoughts and criticisms in the comments below, and I'll see you guys next time!**


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